The Harvest Moon rose yellow. I was still in August and David caught my error. Thanks, David. The full moon is on Saturday, September 10th, but the moon does not pass the meridian tonight. Therefore, is close enough for Rock and Roll to be considered full of itself.
Dawn
The Corn Moon rising at sunset.
The Harvest Moon at dusk.
A gas balloon was hanging in the southern sky. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta starts on October 1st. There are 768 Balloons registered to fly this year.
The Harvest Moon rising under a happy kitty in the clouds.
Splash and Dash are when pilots land their balloons in the Rio Grande and then take off again. The river is low enough right now that the gondolas can sit on the bottom of the river since there are only a few inches of water in most places. When the river is running higher, they truly “splash and dash”, or they risk getting carried away by the current if they linger in a higher, fast-flowing current. In 2015 one balloonist hit the water like a Kamikaze. You can see the post at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/10/splash-down. Today the pilots mostly sat their gondolas in the swallows for a few minutes before taking off again. Several balloons splashed in more than one location. The 5-minute video below shows balloons floating in for their splashes and dashes.
Early balloon at dawn.
The green dragon is popular. Here he is from three sides.
The stork balloon belongs to the doctor who delivered Tristan. She was born during the balloon fiesta. Poor Dr. Komadina was going to have to miss the balloon event that morning, but there was a freak snowstorm the night before leaving a foot of snow on the ground the morning Tristan was born. The balloon event was canceled that morning.
Today was the special shapes rodeo. I did not see as many special shapes as in years past. Many of them barely rose above the trees and then went back down.
There was a traffic jamb of gondolas trying to get onto the neighbor’s field to launch. A critter balloon. Rising through behind the trees.
Four balloons inflated and launched from our neighbor’s field. Below is a video of the inflating and launching, photos of the burners, photos of the animals watching, and three new balloons.
As with most parodies, Purple Stain started out to be humorous. However, the lyrics took a turn toward the more serious aspects of life. Purple Stain was inspired by Holly at House of Heart in the Fall of 2020 when we were commenting back and forth on images and poetry. I thought for a long time about how to do a video to go with the song. I finally worked it out.
Many of us don’t fit “Normal” as defined by Miriam Webster*:
Conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern: characterized by that which is considered usual, typical, or routine.
According with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, procedure, or principle.
Approximating the statistical average or norm.
Generally free from physical or mental impairment or dysfunction: exhibiting or marked by healthy or sound functioning.
Not exhibiting defect or irregularity.
Within a range considered safe, healthy, or optimal.
For we who have fallen outside almost all of the above definitions of “normal” at one time or another throughout our lifetimes for various reasons that are often outside of our control, we have dealt with “normal” people who do not understand the issues surrounding the problems we have had, problems we have to deal with continually, and the problem of being different and trying to fit into a “normal” world.
Purple Stain By Timothy Price Inspired by Holly Rene Hunter
Cleverly we put off until tomorrow Wearily the things that make us go insane Fondly running into the waves and splashing Fondly raising our glasses, waking with a purple stain
Purple stain, Purple stain Are we insane? So insane Purple rain, Purple stain
So here we are scrubbing and washing out that purple stain.
Forever longing wanting to be like others Our sensitivities make us like the strangest friends Unfortunately we feel our sensibilities are plundered Again the same our glasses raised as we pretend
Purple stain, Purple stain Are we insane? So insane Purple stain, Purple stain
Funny how we see, we see how things are changing purple stain
You and I we need to live as two Look! Something new That time we had to greet her She stared at us like we’re insane I thought you were going to lose it As it was all about it was all about our purple stain
Purple stain, Purple stain Are we insane? So insane
Yeah!
Let’s get us out of here purple oh the pain Walking hand in hand
We only want, we only want our sanity
We only want our sanity
Storm clouds built up in the early afternoon, with a constant rumble of thunder as the clouds rolled in. I took the above photo at 1:30 pm and the temperature was 81ºF (27.2ºC). Thirty minutes later the clouds pelted us with hail and heavy rain that lasted for thirty minutes or so. The temperature fell to 55ºF (12.7ºC) in a matter of minutes. Needless to say, our poor peonies got beaten up by the hail.
Normally we would have had a lot of hot air this past week with 500 balloons and an extra million people in town for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. However, like everything else that draws more than 10 people, the AIBF was canceled this year. A few locals flew over our house this morning in honor of the event.
Off Center & Not Even 