Silence greeted us as the earth sunk below us. The east greeted us with the sun racing to the top of the heavens, and I smiled as we see other hot air balloons beside and below us.
We followed this yellow balloon in floating over this pond, and we got to take a photo of our reflection:
The roar of the burner becomes comforting as we saw how the pilot managed the balloon.
Floating down Napa Valley had been a wish of mine for the last two years, but riding in a hot air balloon had been a dream of mine since I was a wee lass when I would see the balloon flying past at our farm in Illinois when I was five.
Last Christmas Stephen and I tried to go on a ride, but the wind had been wrong, so we tried again, and today was PERFECT! We got to go up to 3,000 feet and up there we could see San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean to the West, and the mountains by Lake Tahoe to the East.
My in-laws came out to the park where we landed because it was close to their house!
Our pilot photo bombed our last photo, and I’m glad we have him preserved in the memories from this wonderful day! Seeing San Francisco from above reminds me how small my troubles really are–if a grand city is really that tiny–what is managing grouchy junior highers at work? A refreshing peace came into my soul. Floating above the earth helped me choose to remember to stay peaceful through whatever 2017 holds.
~Mary Hope
Copyright 2016
Trees of Transition 