I lay awake unable to sleep on Thursday evening as I was seething with anger. I was so angry at a coworker and what they had done that I lay awake until almost 3:30am. I was upset, shocked and a bit ashamed I was unable to let go of my anger and sleep. I pride myself on being calm, cool, collected and centered so it was a slap in my face and a true wake up call that something was wrong. I was extra mad that I could not sleep as I was starting a long weekend. I finally fell asleep and woke up after a few hours In a better frame of mind.

I ran a few errands Friday morning and then drove to my Mom and step dad’s. We were going to lunch on Tilghman Island. A former coworker of mine had bought a country store and stepped it up a bit with sandwiches made to order, ice cream, beer and wine and baked goods. As we approached the island I remarked I had never seen the bridge up in all my years living here, neither had my step dad. Mom was shocked. It is a cool drawbridge that lifts one end very high to allow boats to travel under. Well as luck would have it we caught the bridge up again going home. Twice in one day was kind of neat. We enjoyed a lunch outdoors as the humidity was quite low. It was a lovely afternoon.

I took the evening off to attend the hot air balloon festival being held in my town. I picked up my friend Jenn when she got off from work and we trekked over to the festival. It was packed! When we arrived no balloons were set up as the wind was a bit high. We arrived ten minutes before a sky diving team was due to jump but alas due to the winds they were postponed for an hour. Jenn and I wandered around the food vendors and grabbed a bite to eat. We did not being any chairs to sit upon so we made ourselves at home on the grass up against a fence. It was lovely and I remarked to Jenn I could not remember the last time I just sat and did nothing. The organizers were playing airplane, space and rocket themed music and explained what when the sky divers were coming and a bit of balloon lore. After about forty-five minutes we could hear a plane high above making a wide sweeping circle over the fields. As we were sitting about one thousand yards from the end of the local airport’s runway you could definitely tell the difference between the planes taking off from the airport and the sky divers plane. They jumped from 3,000 feet. All you could see was a dot separate from the plane and after a short time a parachute open. Three sky divers were soon in the sky and coming down fairly quickly. They had the parachutes that allowed them to steer their way to the field. It was pretty wild to see the turns they made to hit the field and for a bit it looked and felt as if they were going to land on top of you. All three landed on their feet. Shortly after the balloonists started to set up.

Being the Gemini I am I was intrigued with how they set up the balloons as it was something I had never seen before. Usually I see them floating by or in pictures. It was amazing to me to see how many people it took to set a balloon up and I was most fascinated by the person who was tasked to hold a rope that was attached to the top of the balloon. What caught my eye is that the person was required to wear heavy gloves and at times had to almost sit on the line to keep it stable. One man who was holding one of the lines was chatting away with everyone nearby, clearly comfortable with his job. I observed others who were a bit stressed by it.

Three balloons were busy getting ready to go up. I am terrified of heights and do not know that I could get in a balloon but as I watched first one balloon take to the sky and then a second and finally the silly Teddy bear balloon take off and rise gently into the sky I found myself suddenly wanting to be up there and look down upon the farm fields, bridges, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Maybe some day.

After the three balloons floated away seven other balloonists started setting up their balloons. As the winds started picking up over the times it took them to set up they stayed on the ground but participated in a “glow” at sunset. It was wonderful. It was really amazing to me to be able to be so close to the balloons as the set up and then taken down. I found the whole experience of the festival exciting and exhilarating even though I did not get into a balloon. The colors of the balloons, the sounds of the flames being lit and being around a crowd of all ages enjoying the same thing was great. I am looking forward to next years festival.

I had finally let go of the anger that had welled inside of me and threatened to take over my weekend. I am still amazed at the depths of my anger and am glad I was able to let it go for the most part. I still feel it lurking in the background but after much soul searching I realized that I am human after all. After overcoming some serious depressions in the past I think I feared I was heading back down that path again. I learned I was not but need to pay a little more attention to myself and my needs. I tend to forget to do that. The balloon festival allowed me to face my fear of heights while on the ground, fear of flames from two house fires and let go of my anger and realize that I could handle strong seemingly negative emotions and still be happy.

Thanks for allowing me to share and I appreciate it to the bottom of my heart especially after the long and a bit of a rambling post today.

I hope you have a great evening. Feel free to share your balloon experiences or anything else that strikes your fancy. Many thanks!!