Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I have a dream that is yet to be fulfilled. To float above the patchwork landscape in a hot air balloon. I've been told that when you reach altitude and you are in the currents, the burner is shut down and you move uninhibited becoming one with the wind. You can hear conversations 400 feet below you on the ground and it is a vantage point like no other. When man first sailed aloft and he saw the earth for the first time, from the same perspective as a soaring eagle on the thermals, he must have felt as though he entered God's realm...closer than ever before. The glow of the balloon that night against the stars left the children wide eyed and dreaming of flight. I was a child that night.

6 comments:

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Oh man, do it! It is unreal, surreal.

Though for some reason dogs hate the balloons, so you can get a bit of barking happening as you drift by.

Dan Felstead said...

J,

So you have went up in a balloon. Is it true what I heard about being able to hear conversations on the ground? I would love to give it a try.

Dan

Bri said...

wow, where is this? It looks like my town sorta!

Dan Felstead said...

Bri,

This is in southern Indiana.

Dan

Anonymous said...

A beautiful post, both picture and prose. I'm afraid of heights so I will never experience this type of oneness with the sky. I hope you get to enjoy the ride. To hear conversations at 400 ft? Wow, that's truly something.

Dan Felstead said...

Pura...
I am afraid of heights as well but only when I am on some type of structure. For example, there is no way I can stand on the edge of a building and look over the edge...just typing this gives me the creeps! But in a airplane or something similar...for some reason, I am not afraid of that. I know...it is kind of weird!

Dan