Balloonatic Reunion

Look at this happy bunch! This is the crew of the Rise-N-Shine, a hot-air balloon based out of the Dallas area and piloted by my boss at the time, Dave Conger.
Back row: Michael, Dave, Pam, Jennifer, and me
Bottom row: Steve, Ann (Dave's wife), and Peggy
Bottomest row: Jenny (Dave and Ann's daughter)

So this year, at Jennifer's persistent request, a balloon crew reunion was offered up for this Thanksgiving weekend to be held at her and her husband Romaldo's house in Terlingua. The invitations went far and wide -- at least as far as lost communications would allow -- and here is the result. Due to the arrival of the snowstorm, the official reunion, complete with Thanksgiving feast, was missing one person -- me -- so a backup reunion was held at the new fifth-wheel trailer of Dave and Ann the following day. It was so good to see everyone again, and we had a great time poring through my one ballooning photo album I brought along. (The others being in storage still.) Clockwise from left: Ann, Dave, me, Peggy, and Jennifer.


Many thanks, Jen, for such a wonderful idea and your persistence to get it realized, and many, many thanks to you, Dave, for all the fond memories. Those crazy days in ballooning were some of the most treasured ones in my entire life. In closing, I'd like to leave you all with this, the Balloonist's Prayer:

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with his warm hands
You have flown so high and so well
That God has joined you in your laughter
And set you gently back again
Into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

Soft landings!