Balloon!

It was quite early on a bright sunny morning when I received a text message that nearly vibrated my phone with excitement.

From my daughter, Dawn. “Mom, there is a hot air balloon fixing to land in the yard out here. I’m not lying. Come down!”

Sure enough, when I got there the sun was hidden by a huge colorful hot air balloon setting right down by the driveway. Come to find out, the air was so still that there wasn’t enough breeze to push it along to the landing pad not far from us. A lovely family from Chicago had come to the area on vacation and booked the hot air balloon ride as part of their visit. We never realized the launching pad for What’s Up Ballooning was less than 5 miles from our property. This was so exciting.

What’s Up Ballooning is owned and piloted by Ray and Mary Ann Fournier in New Market, TN. They handle all aspects of the business personally in order to provide a safe and amazing flying experience. In this case, safe was finding a landing place when they couldn’t make it home. Dawn and my other daughter were sitting on the porch having coffee when they kept hearing a sound like a blow torch. Can you just imagine their shock when they discovered this huge balloon about to land in the backyard? The pilot shouted that they needed to land, and of course they were welcomed to do so.

The Sanchez family from Chicago, IL were passengers just finishing up a morning in the skies over the beautiful Smoky Mountains. The chase car, driven by Mary Ann pulled into the driveway as William and Joanna Sanchez and their teenagers, Sebastian and Samantha, climbed out of the balloon’s basket. I crossed the yard and stood under the balloon. It was HUGE and gorgeous. Ray needed more space to deflate the balloon and asked permission to move to the front yard which is about the size of a football field. He loaded my two daughters, and my two grandsons, into the basket for the hop over the house. It was breathtaking. It isn’t everyday you have a hot air balloon right in your yard. I found out later the balloon was named “The Breeze.” I found humor in that.

To make this morning adventure even more fun Roy allowed all of us to help lower the balloon and walk out the air. When it was laying on the ground, much like one would see a parachute land with the air still in its silk, we were instructed to remove our shoes and walk along the ribs to force the air out. There was still too much air when we were done, so he asked Samantha to lay down and roll like she was a kid rolling down a hill. She did a great job. We then gathered up the sides so they could band it closed and then load everything back into the basket. We felt blessed, excited, and amazed.

The history of hot air balloons dates back to Paris, France in 1783. Joseph Montgolfier was a young Frenchman who had a passion for machinery. His younger brother, Etienne, just wanted to fly. Joseph accidently realized that his shirt would inflate when he held it over a fire. Realizing the pure science of hot air being lighter than cold air, Joseph was off and running. In the next two years, with the help of another scientist, Jacques Charles, and some of his buddies, and some fiery mistakes, they finally developed a flying balloon powered by hydrogen, a gas lighter than air. While a few people, including Etienne, wanted to be the first to try out this flight machine, they were too scared to do so because they could not be sure what effects altitude would have on a living organism. The first “manned” flight was made by a duck, a rooster and a sheep. They landed safely and the sheep resumed grazing. The science of hot air balloon flight in much the same balloon/basket configuration as we see today suffered some tragedies and lost popularity until the 1960’s when an American named Ed Yost put together new materials and propane burners. The sport of hot air ballooning may not be as fast as a racecar or as loud as a motorcycle, but it is certainly beautifully gentle while still able to accelerate a beating heart.

The Fournier’s had graced our yard with their balloon and kindness. We met a very nice family from Chicago and had an exhilarating morning. Thank you all!