ABQ Int. Balloon Fiesta Oct 8

OK so it took several hundred balloons but my faith in humanity is temporarily restored. I arrived at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest event of its kind, at 5:15AM, well before dawn, and joined the gathering of parents wheeling their half-woken kids in strollers and older people in heavy overcoats and woolen hats. I got a cup of hot chocolate and walked the large field where teams of balloonists were unrolling their balloons, inflating them with large fans, prepping the baskets and testing the burners. It never occurred to me what a team effort ballooning is. The 10 pre-dawn balloons glowed like Chinese lanterns floating in the sky every time the balloon's burner was ignited. Then the grand finale. Literally hundreds of balloons of all shapes, patterns and colors were readied across the enormous field by teams from all over the world, dressed in self-made uniforms. The balloons were launched continuously for well over an hour. As a balloon takes off the crowd around the balloon cheer them off and the balloonists happily wave back. I can't remember the last time I've seen so many genuinely happy people. Seeing so many whimsical balloons at once gave me a joy I can't describe and won't attempt to any longer. My incompetence in writing will only degrade my beautiful memories of this beautiful spectacle.