Passion for Flight

Mass Ascension at day break. If you want to be blown away, fly to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM, at the beginning of October and be awed by the colors and shapes of hundreds of hot-air balloons. Friend Arie and I visited daughter Ingrid to see this spectacle. It starts while still dark. A few balloons are equipped for night flight, and pilots have the appropriate rating. They take off for the Dawn Patrol. Dawn Patrol. Soon the sun rises over the Sandia Peak to the east. Hundreds of balloons are readied for takeoff and rise into the day. Then the entire sky fills with balloons; see title photo. Burner shoots flame into partially inflated balloon. There are more than a dozen whimsical shapes; most photos below are courtesy of daughter Ingrid. You cannot but smile at the the cow and many other specialty balloons . . .  At night, the balloons are inflated for Night Magic Glow, but do not take off.  Preparing ballo...