Can I Go Back ?

After a tiring (but fun) trip to Helen I was looking forward to a lazy Sunday back at home. It was hot for Helen this week. The highs were in the high 80s to low 90s. With two flights scheduled each day (7 AM and 7 PM) I was getting a work out -- and so was the shower.

I just looked at the thermometer here at home and it said 100. Can I go back to the mountains ?

Although I didn’t get any blogs done I did manage to finish FDR while I was in Helen. It’s an excellent book and I found it particularly relevant to the circumstances of today. I’ll have more to say at a later date as I’m sure it well take me a few days to formulate the words needed to say what I want said. My problem is that I think I’ve run out of books. Well, at least until next week -- Father’s Day.

I finally got around to taking my first balloon ride while I was in Helen. I made two important discoveries. Floating in a balloon over the mountains is incredibly beautiful and it turns out that hay fever is called “hay” fever for a reason. We (that would be my pilot Kyle and I) landed in a hay field and I thought I’d cough and/or sneeze my brains out before we got packed up. I’ve had allergies for a long time but I’m never had such a large reaction to a particular pollen before. No matter, it went away as fast as it came on.

For those that find themselves wondering about landing sites for hot air balloons, you just never know. On pleasure flights, the majority of the time you can find a good, accessible spot. For the two guys in the race this year, it got a little ugly. You can read about it here and see some good pictures.

Things here at Get the Flick should return to normal tomorrow.

Don Brown
June 8, 2008