Hot Air Balloons

By the time we arrived at the balloon launch point, dawn had already broken, and the thrilling image of a half-dozen different hot air balloons in various sizes and bright colors, and various stages of partial inflation, was there to welcome us. Such whooshing flames from the engines! Looking at them, and feeling the blistering heat, I realized that while hot air balloons are placid-looking creatures, they have a core of tongues of fire covered in a skin of fabric—a fearsome and delicate mix!

For many years, I have wanted to take a hot air balloon ride, but the right opportunity never came. I had come to think of it as a wonderful thing to do with close friends, or perhaps a romantic interest, and so you may understand when I say that the actual experience, while amazing, bore a hint of melancholy in it—for while I was in a basket with twenty others, I was alone. It was not how I would have wanted it; and I briefly wondered if I might not have been better to wait—but then, for how long?

—Chris Green