Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Balloons

Every other year or so, we get a magnificent display of balloons from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This morning, Tuesday, was one of those days when dozens of balloons fly over and around our house and many land close to us.

It all started when I was out feeding the horses and I made a timelapse movie of the sunrise and some of the early Dawn Patrol balloons coming by.

The rest of the morning was filled with balloons coming all around and landing close by.

The largest special shape balloon, Creamland Dairy's Airabelle, even landed down the street from us. She seemed to be happy to be back on the ground.

And Humpty Dumpty flew over the house.

One balloon named Kim's Winddancer II piloted by a family from Wisconsin landed in the street right outside our drive. This first picture is from the end of our drive.

These next two pictures were taken from up the street looking back toward our house which in on the left in each picture.

All of this balloon movement, color and noise gave Sugar and Morgunn an exciting morning.

Finally, here's a video that gives an overview of our unforgettable balloon morning.

 

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Balloons, Fish and Plants

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta started Saturday morning. Even though the weather was good both days, the winds took the balloons to the South so we couldn't see them very well.

This morning, Monday, the winds were more to the North so the balloons came up our way. We didn't have a lot land close to us as in the past, but we did have a few.

In the early afternoon, Betty and I went over to the Galloping Grace Youth Pumpkin Patch to volunteer for three hours. The Ranch is moving toward an agricultural experience for kids. One of Max's projects is Aquaponics.

Max built a demonstration of aquaponics for the Pumpkin Patch. Our goal is to have several, larger functioning aquaponics units for the Ranch next summer that will produce a lot of produce.

The process starts with fish and, as we all know, fish, like most animals, poop in the water.

This poopy water is pumped up to the plants where the poop ingredients act as nutrients for the plants.

Once the water has flowed through the plants, they absorb the poopy nutrients and the water, now clean, is returned to the fish tank. And the process continues on and on.

Pretty cool, huh?

 

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Monday Video - Friendships

We all know friendships are important.  Watch how Bubbles and Bella share their love for water in their friendship.

Sunday Reflection - Adversity

The comments below are not original with me, but they seemed to go well with the Peanuts cartoon below that holds a lot of truth.

One of the most treasured pieces in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, is a rug bearing the Latin inscription Nec Aspera Terrent (Be Not Terrified by Adversity).

It always has had special meaning for Baroness Maria von Trapp and her children—the famous Trapp Family Singers—because the rug, a gift from a friend, arrived on December 21, 1980, a day after a fire razed the famous lodge, killing a guest and injuring seven others.

It took three years and $7 million to rebuild the lodge, but the Trapps never had any doubts about rebuilding. To battle adversity was nothing new to them. The family, immortalized in the musicalThe Sound of Music, fled Austria in 1938 rather than submit to orders directing Baron von Trapp, a former submarine captain, to return to the German Navy. On arrival in the United States, the family had only $3.50.

When work on their first Vermont lodge was nearing completion, the structure was destroyed by a storm, so they started all over with a second lodge—the one that burned down in 1980.

On December 18, 1983, the day the successor to the burned-down lodge opened, Johannes von Trapp recalled that, when the rug arrived right after the fire, he had decided it would be prominently placed in the lobby of the new hotel.

Adversity is a fact of life. It can’t be controlled. What we can control is how we react to it.

(The movie, 'Sound of Music' is special to Betty and me. We saw that movie the night I proposed to her and asked her to marry me.)

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Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch

Need a pumpkin, or two or three, for your Fall/Halloween decorations? Need a fun place to take the kids for a couple of hours?

The Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch is open for business. It's at a new location and is bigger and better than ever. The city of Rio Rancho invited GGYR to hold the Pumpkin Patch at the Santa Ana Star Center (not the Casino). There is much more to the Patch for all ages and the parking is much larger than the old location at the old Rowlands Nursery on Irving.

So, bring the family and come on out - and buy a lot of pumpkins. You're helping a good cause.

 

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Riding Again

Yesterday, Wednesday, was actually my first day riding after my hernia surgery. Betty had Bible study at church so I rode both Morgunn and Sugar. Both did pretty well.

Today, Thursday, Betty and I both rode. Betty worked with Morgunn on his right turns, his difficult side. She made some good progress with him.

The fun thing is when she led him to our mounting block, he did a 'trick.'

Actually, we think it was Morgunn's sense of humor and just something he wanted to do. In any case, it made a pretty good picture.

Now if Betty can get all four feet up on the block :)

 

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Ditch Pony Promenade

One of the great horse events in our hometown of Corrales is the Ditch Pony Promenade. This is a free horse show for kids to encourage their participation and growth in horsemanship. In the past it was held in May, but this year it was moved to be a part of our Corrales Harvest Festival on the last weekend in September. I'm privileged to be the official photographher for the event, so here are just a few of the 269 photos that I took throughout the morning.

It starts with a Driving Class. The child is the driver and is accompanied by an adult.

The Costume Class is always a big favorite and we had 24 entries this year, more than ever before. They all receive blue ribbons because it would be impossible to determine a winner.

Stick Pony is a fun class for the little ones who don't ride yet. They all receive blue ribbons.

There are different competition classes in age groups that are judged with awards given to the top six finishers in each class. The younger kids, 12 and under, walk and trot. The older kids, 13 to 18, include a canter as part of their competition.

Every once in awhile a horse would kick up its heels.

Some of the riders add neat, special touches.

The awards are fun to receive.

This horse and rider were the big winners for the morning.

Of course, the real heroes are the horses.

A great day for kids and their horses.

 

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