Brilliant balloons flicker and glow in the predawn darkness
Like gigantic colored lightning bugs
14 million BTUs per propane tank
Preparing the hot air globe for flight
Billowing masses of vibrant cloth
Fluttering, unfolding, expanding
To it’s final form
Lifting in magnificent glory and greatness
Sounds of the gas-generated hot air hissing upward
Then silence
Lift off
Carried by the winds
Into the sky

The world’s premier hot air balloon event in Albuquerque New Mexico hosted 250 plus balloons from over 50 countries. Sipping hot chocolate and café at 5am in the 40-degree pre-dawn darkness watching the ground unfurl with plastic tarps, masses of majestic cloth, guide wires, wicker baskets, and propane tanks. At sunrise and in crystal clear skies with a slight breeze, a kaleidoscope of colorful and whimsical gigantic forms take flight.