HOT AIR BALLOONING

One time at the Sweetcorn and Watermelon Festival, my wife and I got to be a part of a hot air balloon race. It was called a rabbit and hare race where the rabbit is the lead balloon who tries to hide and disappear for awhile while the other balloonists try to find him and "land" as closely as possible to the lead balloon.

Our pilot was out of Colorado and he was so irate at the rabbit that he vowed not to return. (To the Sweetcorn and Watermellon Race, not Colorado.) The rabbit was a local balloonist who irritated a lot of us a few years down the road when he served on the high school board and was instrumental in our teachers' strike of 1986. At the time of the race, I suspected him to be a royal pain. He certainly proved it in 1986 as well.

So was our ride a great thrill? For about the first thirty seconds or so when another hot air balloon shot up very close to us at take off, so we had to go higher to avoid him. But for the most part we skimmed the tops of corn with our basket, trying to stay close to the rabbit. He'd drop down and hide, but unlike more knowledgeable balloonists he wouldn't come up to reveal his position. So that's what we did for ninety minutes.

It was getting late, it was getting dark, and the rabbit nearly landed us in Rend Lake when he finally set down. So what should have been a great ride, was not, unfortunately.

For a short while it was awesome with spectacular sights. Whether ego or bad judgment got in his way, I couldn't be sure. And I'm talking about the balloon race, too.