Balloon Out Back

When I first moved to Albuquerque I was frequently found tracking and photographing the balloons during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

That has tapered off in recent years.  I like sleeping in on the weekends and the balloons go up early.

This morning I heard a balloon around 7:30 AM.  I got up, looked around and didn't see anything.  About 15-20 minutes later, I heard the balloon again.  I walked outside and there, in the park behind the house, was a balloon setting up prior to flight.  My guess is, they decided to avoid the crowds and early hours of the ascension field.

Inflated and almost ready for takeoff.

And, up into the air.

They weren't the only ones looking for later hours and less of a crowd.

Early morning in the Albuquerque metro area during Balloon Fiesta.

Papillon

End of the weekend

This past couple of weeks have been mildly painful.  Literally.

On Tuesday, January 6th, I fell off of a parking lot.  Once again, literally.

The parking lot had two parts, an official part which is paved and an unofficial part which is dirt.  The paved section is about an inch higher than the dirt section.  I was walking facing into the sun and in the glare didn't notice the divide between two sections.  I rolled my ankle and did a 3-point landing.

The small area of road rash on my right palm is almost completely healed.  The large area of road rash on my left knee is about 80% healed.  It's still got some scabbing and a large area of red where I lost a layer or two of skin.  The biggest problem is the right ankle.  It's still swollen and rather achy.  There also may be a small fracture.  Eew alert -- According to the X-rays, a ligament may have pulled loose a tiny section of bone.  The X-rays are a bit ambiguous. 

So, I'm now looking at having an MRI scheduled.  And some physical therapy.  What a pain in my....umm...ankle.

On a more fun note, after a couple of weeks with no balloons, a bunch were back up this morning -- almost a dozen.

A fun angle.

Starting out close together.

 

Then the balloon on the right started to fire their propane.

And continued to rise.

It's been nice to have sunshine after the snow we had earlier this week.

Papillon

 

Holiday's End

It is sure going to be tough going back to work tomorrow.  I freely admit, sloth is my favorite of the (alleged) seven deadly sin.  I've gotten a lot of books read and lots of sleep time.  I'm sure gonna miss it.

In typical Albuquerque metro fashion, the end of the weekend was sent off via balloons.  At least a half dozen were up and cruising this morning.

And another one.

I wasn't sure if this balloon was officially landed or if they were changing passengers.  It was chilly out this morning and I didn't hang around long enough to find out.

Ah, well.  Back to work tomorrow.

Papillon

New Year's - 2015

Last night was spent quietly enjoying some champagne and snacks.  It was funny, even though I had the TV countdown on, I really didn't need it.  When midnight rolled around, there was lots of noisemakers and fireworks in the neighborhood.

This morning I woke up to cloudy skies and a light dusting of snow.

Fortunately, it was cold enough when it started to snow that there wasn't any ice, just some dry snow.

Later on, the clouds went away for the most part and the sun emerged.  As can be expected here in the Albuquerque metro area, folks celebrated by launching a couple of balloons from the park out back.  Balloons normally go up in the morning, so I was startled when I heard the propane whoosh around 2:00 PM.

The above two balloons seem to be a joint effort.

About half an hour later, I heard another whoosh.  Et, voila!

I'm not sure if the bumble bee color scheme balloon was with the first two or if it showed up independently.

Typical Albuquerque metro celebrating of the holiday.

Happy New Year!
Papillon

A Weekend - Gone Too Quickly

On Friday morning I was awakened by a hot air balloon.

My suspicion is that they were taking advantage of the weather.  Friday was a lovely day.  Sunny and cool but not cold.

For the past several days, the local weather people have been sounding the alarm.  The front that had dumped a whole bunch of rain on California was headed our way.  Weather warnings!  Weather warnings!  This will hit on Saturday PM.

With this is mind, I did all my errands on Saturday because they were forecasting possible snow for the whole metro area and I wasn't sure what the roads would be like on Sunday.

Sure enough, the rain started around 7:30PM.  From the puddles remaining today, we must have gotten a significant amount of rain.  However, it wasn't the violent downpour the weathercasters had made it sound like we'd be getting.  It was more of an extended gentle rain. 

This morning I woke up to sunny skies.  It was chilly, made more so by a sharp wind.  It sounds like the wind has died down, but it's still quite chilly.

Having said all that, the metro area did get snow.  This picture shows why I don't live in the Sandia mountains east of town.  I try to avoid situations that involve me shoveling snow.

I'm still missing Oscar.  It's been a week and 3 days.  I miss seeing him curled up asleep in my recliner.  I even find myself missing him at 8 PM.  He had to have one vaso-dilator pill a day and that was the time I usually gave it to him.  Missing you, you silly furball.

Papillon

Afternoon flights

Usually we'll see hot air balloons in the morning.  It's unusual to see them in the afternoon.  So, I was surprised to walk out this afternoon and there were four of them.

I'm thinking they were taking advantage of absolutely perfect weather.  It was clear, not too hot, not too cold, very little wind.

One loitered over the park in back of the house for a while. 

The others were north of my house and heading farther away.

From the related color schemes, I'm thinking they belong to a local company that specializes in giving balloon rides. 

It was fun watching them.

Papillon

Over the Back Fence

Balloon Fiesta is underway.  It started this past weekend (10/3) but I've become rather jaded after 20+ years so haven't really made much of an effort to track the balloons.

However, it's not hard to enjoy things when a balloon comes to me.

Granted, he didn't do any real 'flying' since he remained tethered to the ground.  You'll also notice it doesn't have a traditional gondola (passenger basket) underneath.  It was one man sitting in a chair-type device.

Here's another view as he fires up the propane.

What fun!  Nothing like my own 'personal' Glowdeo!  The neighborhood kids certainly enjoyed it.

I may have to do some balloon stalking next weekend.

Papillon

The New House

After coming back from New Orleans for Christmas, I moved into my new house on January 10th.  That was the day I was getting the phone and cable/computer transferred so I figured that was as good a day as any to move both me and the cat.

I was worried about the cat.  I adopted him about in 1999 and he's only ever lived with me in the old house.  He was majorly freaked out for about the first half hour.  He got steadily better after that and is now pretty much an old hand at the place.

At the old house I had furniture I wanted to bring with me.  Then there's the furniture I no longer want and, in some cases, rather loathe.  The furniture I wanted was moved over on December 30th.  The remainder is still at the old place waiting to go to either The Salvation Army or the landfill.

I'm still bringing over small stuff.  I've gotten to the point over bringing over the awkward to haul stuff like pots and pans and things that don't fit well into boxes.  But I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel is a light and not a train.  I'm also hoping the I soon forget the annoyance of moving.

I did find one more fun thing about the new house.  Thanks to the park out back, there's the possibility of balloon landings.  I don't think this one actually landed, I think they just thought about it and decided to continue flying.

Papillon

Hot Air Balloon in the Afternoon

It's been a lazy Thanksgiving weekend.  This afternoon I was napping on the couch.  When I first heard the noise, I thought it was the furnace firing up.  When it didn't, I wondered if it was someone taking a hot air balloon.

This is unusual, simply because most balloon rides take place in the mornings.  I'm not 100% sure of the reasons why, but it's traditionally the time of day when balloons go up.

After I heard a couple more bursts of propane firing up, I wandered outside and sure enough, there went a balloon headed off to the north.

The trees reside in my neighbors' yard.

I've been listening to the reports about Black Thursday/Friday shopping.  I like my weekend plans/non-plans better. 

I did go to the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival this morning.  I had a fun time looking around at all the creative endeavors.  I even bought a few things, including some pasta/orzo in fun flavors.  Yummy!

Papillon

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I feel sad for this year's participants in this year's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  It started out nicely with lovely weather last weekend.

Unfortunately, the weather has gone downhill since late on Tuesday. It's been rainy or windy or both windy and rainy. 

An aside -- I had to laugh at myself.  I woke up this morning around 6:00 AM and thought, 'What is making that odd noise?"  I almost got up to go check and then realized the noise I was hearing was rain on the roof.  Oh, right.  THAT'S what that sounds like.

Because of this morning's rain, the mass ascension was canceled.

I do have one more photo taken last weekend.  Here's a balloon coming in for a landing.

I'm hoping the weather's better tomorrow and Sunday.  I'm hoping I can get some more photos.

Ya gotta love those balloons.

Papillon

Balloons

There are a couple of ways to tell it's autumn in the Albuquerque area.  One is the smell of roasting green chiles.  I'd explain, but it's a New Mexico thing.  You really need to experience it at least once.

The second autumnal indication is the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  Lots and lots of gorgeous hot air balloons.  Today is the first day of the 9 day event. 

A number of balloons drifted over to the west side of town.

Here's a patriotic balloon seen in the area of the Rio Rancho Post Office.

This next photo is a shot of the Smokey Bear balloon coming in for a landing near the Target in Rio Rancho.  The fans of the 'caught on video' type of TV show will know this is a replacement balloon.  The original Smokey Bear was blown into a radio tower several years ago.  It was ripped beyond repair.  Fortunately the pilot and two passengers were able to climb down the tower's ladder to safety. 

I'll be trying to get more photos of the next eight days.  I actually got at least one more balloon today, but I haven't developed the film yet (my digital camera's batteries decided to die at a critical moment so I had to go 'old school').

Papillon

Hot Air Balloon Overhead

Several Saturdays ago, I was awakened by the propane 'whoosh' of a hot air balloon going overhead.  The first camera I grabbed was my 35mm so I had to wait until I got the film developed before I could show the photos.

Here's the sequence of photos from directly overhead to setting down in the municipal park behind the neighborhood.

I hope you liked them.

Papillon