Field of Dreams    

by Erin Morey

  
     The evening of Saturday, August 27th the sky in Metamora Michigan was a kaleidoscope of color. For the 20th consecutive year, Metamora has been the proud host of the free event known as The Balloon Launch.
     Normally held two weekend nights in a row, The Balloon Launch is truly an event that everyone will enjoy. In my case ‘everyone’ was my two sons, my boyfriend, and my mom. On the night that we were there we were lucky enough to enjoy, not only the colorful balloons, but the people as well.
     After the long walk from our parking place (wear comfortable shoes when you come!) to the balloon launch field we were met by probably a thousand spectators, dozens of food vendors, and maybe twenty trailers holding hopeful hot air balloons. I approached a group of happy strangers, who were talking and laughing.
     Tom Koller took his twelveth ride the night before I had the privilege of meeting him and the rest of the Capt'n Cutty and Crew Hot Air Balloon Rides group. “Every time is different,” he said. Terry Kitson, who had lost count of how many flights he had taken in the last thirty  years, agreed “You can start at the same time, and the same place and you are going to go somewhere new every time; it’s never the same.”
     Everyone in the group takes their turn as ground crew, keeping in communication with the pilot via walkie-talkie. “The average flight (jump) is seven to ten miles,” Terry told me. Although he was once part of a jump that started at 25 mile Rd and Mound in Chesterfield Twp and ended up just outside of Port Huron, totaling fourty-five miles! For various reasons the ‘chasers’ or ‘ground crew’ are an essential part of the operation.    
     According to Terry, the basket alone weighs in at 800 pounds, while each of the six liquid propane tanks are seventy pounds. The entire system fully loaded tops 1,200 pounds and that is before passengers! So it is easy to imagine why the ground crew is so important. After landing, the crew needs to be there to help pack everything up and transport the passengers back to their vehicles.      
     Fascinated by the basket itself, I asked if it would be ok if I climbed up into the trailer and took a couple of pictures of the inside of the basket. After snapping a few shots, Terry told me that if the pilots, including their pilot, Ray Pini, owner of Bellecino’s in Washington MI, chose to fly, that I should look for their trailer during setup. Terry said that I would get some great shots that way and to come down and see how the set up worked. That was music to my ears! As was the announcers ‘ok’ for the balloons to launch, “Ok, everyone, the last weather report is in and we have received word that eight or nine of the pilots are comfortable with the weather and feel confident to launch.”
     Many people at that time had been waiting for hours. In light of the street fair that accompanies that event, as well as the potential parking issue, many people arrived hours before the 5:00 PM start time. When the announcement was finally made that the balloons could launch it was 6:45 PM, and my excitement was shared by the cheering of the crowd.
     Finding the Capt'n Cutty and Crew trailer was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. Tim, Terry and the rest of the crew moved quickly and were the first to have their balloon out of the large bag that had held it. Even laying across the ground the balloon was beautiful. The fans were turned on and everyone did their part stretching the balloon and hooking it to, what Tom joked was, kite string. I was amazed at how small the string was that safely supported 2,000 pounds. Terry told me that it was Velcro that held the balloon together while it was blowing up. I thought of the bumble bee, and how all laws of physics are ignored, as the bumble bee flies from flower to flower. After being privileged with taking a picture of the inside of the balloon, while it was still on it’s side, and slowly being erected (amazing!), I became aware of everything that was going on behind me. 
     Stretched across the clearing, blanketing the grass, were a dozen rainbows. Brightened by the evening sun, was every color of the rainbow in strips maybe fourty or fifty feet all across the field. People worked steadily all around the balloons, securing lines, and fastening Velcro, and ultimately trying to control the balloons against the wind as it was erected into (in my opinion) the most beautiful mode of flight created by man. 
     Capt'n Cutty and Crew was the first to launch. The balloon filled fast and as it did, it pulled from horizontal to vertical with a cheer from the crowd. The sheer size of the balloons is astonishing. The fire blazed above the basket and the passengers got in, Terry included. He waved to me as they took off. I decided right then that, despite my fear of flying, I would at some point find myself in the basket and, later, wherever the wind had taken me.   
     By the time my children had grown tired, ten balloons had launched and each one was as beautiful as the next. There were balloons of all kinds, each one unique. A balloon for absolutely everyone. There was even a Halloween balloon! I believe that there are few events that cannot be described with a few well chosen words. The Balloon Launch in Metamora, Michigan is truly one of those times. Words like: breathtaking, beautiful, amazing and captivating are a good start, but they really don’t cover it. The only thing brighter than those balloons were the shining eyes of my children.
     Walking back to the car, keeping the children close (the 2- track is shared by motorists leaving as well), I thought about Michigan, or more specifically, I thought about the opportunities in Michigan. So many people don’t know what their own state has to offer. They don’t know that there is a small town, twenty miles away, that has an event that people come from out of state to see. They don’t know that if you look closely at the town that you live in, there are little on-your-honor fruit and vegetable stands that have produce that puts Kroger to shame. So many people don’t know that there are free tickets available to thirty-four different Michigan museums available at their local library. They don’t know. 
     I thought about the people that I had just met and how Terry told me that they do ‘long jumps’ with the balloons in the winter. It takes less heat for the baloons to get off the ground if Michigan has provided the winter air that comes so naturally to her. I thought about this, about my next door neighbors and extended family and about the adventures that are waiting for them if only they knew. And then I thought about my boys. I thought about how, if we are lucky, our kids stay kids for twelve years now. If we are even luckier that childhood will be only 10 percent of their whole life. Still, that 10 percent often defines them as adults. So what do we do? Do we spend a lot of time figuring out the babysitter and how we are going to pay for child care or do we look up thebluewatertraveler.com, and find out what’s fun, what’s free and what Erin recommends? I’m suggesting you give the latter a try because I’m full of ideas and I’m here if you need me.

Until next time, looking forward and all around,
 
E-