so, it was an hour or so ago, somewhere between 8:30a and 9a, i guess...

i am standing at my espresso machine, waiting for it to brew, and i look up out the kitchen window and there is this HUGE blue hot air balloon... i mean, this thing was CLOSE and LOW... MASSIVE...
it looked like maybe the pilot lived here and he was looking for a parking spot...

i picked up my jaw, dashed into the bedroom, "mary! mary! hurry! come look! you gotta' see this! it's better than goofy golf!"
poor girl probably got to sleep about 5a, but, she managed to stumble to the window, i look out the living room window and there is another balloon a little ways out, in the place where i usually see a balloon or two in the early mornings (somewhere around here, you can take rides between like 7a and 10a)...
i go look out our bedroom window, and AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!, one very low, floating right above our bedroom! dark dark blue, almost black, HUGE, and just hanging there almost right above my head...

then i come to my senses...

CAMERAAAAAAAAA!!!!

so, i run and grab my camera, run out on the balcony, point at the blue one and beep beep beeeeep...
NOOOO!!!
so, i run inside, and grab her camera, run back out to the balcony, the blue one is seriously getting away and is nowhere near as close, turn the camera on, sight it up, and beep beep beeeeeep...
NOOOOOO!!!! DAMMIT!!!!

run inside, fire up the software, hook up the cam...
EMPTY???!!! other one, also empty!!

BATTERIES!!!!!!!

to the cabinet, stuff falls out, dig up the AAA's, dump the dead ones on the floor, load up two new ones, run outside and...

gone...


run down the stairs, look west...

nothing...


south...

nothing...


run around the building, look east...

nothing...


look around for an animal or something to kick...

nothing...


(nothing i feel like getting in trouble for, anyway...)


go back upstairs, mary is back in bed, sound asleep, i look out every window, nothing...

like i had only dreamed it...


so now i sit typing this, going and looking out the windows every couple minutes, drinking my espresso, which is cold after all that...


next time, dammit, next time...