I love lazy, hazy summer afternoons sitting out in the
sunshine and soaking up the warmth. It’s too windy today for hot air balloons
but on calm days we often see them sailing overhead, bright globes of colour
against the backdrop of pale blue. There’s something majestic about their
silent passage. It makes me smile.
Years ago we were sitting with friends on the back deck when we saw a hot air balloon that looked like it was going to pass directly over our yard. With one accord we all jumped up and ran out to the middle of the lawn to watch it coming. Yes indeed, it was going to go right over our heads and it was sailing low enough that we could see the people in the gondola beneath it.
We planned to wave a greeting when they got closer but my friend had a better idea. “I bet we could spell out the word ‘Hello’ using our bodies to form the letters on the grass,” she suggested with a laugh.
There was no debate. We all just looked at each other and said, “Let’s go for it!”
There were just enough of us with the kids included to do the job. It took a few minutes of giggling chaos to sort ourselves out and assume our positions but we managed it and just in time. We held our collective breath as the balloon passed, hoping that someone would look down and spot us where we lay giving new meaning to the term body language.
It was silly and undignified and thoroughly fun and it was my
favourite memory of the summer. I still grin whenever I imagine what we must
have looked like from above. Everyone needs a little spontaneous silliness in
their lives now and then. Laughter is good for the soul.
Image courtesy of creativedoxfoto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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