The phone rang and rang and rang… My heart was beating quickly.  The early morning air on my face was calm and cool, but the back of my neck felt like it was on fire.  It was hot to the touch.  The smell of propane filled my nose with each breath.  My hands shook a little with giddy as I waited patiently, hoping I wouldn’t miss them.

“Hello,” my mom finally answered.

With a giggle in my voice I greeted her, “Hi Mom!  Have you ever been called from a hot air balloon before?”

She laughed and responded “no,” and made sure to add the fact that she had never been called quite so early by René Tate.  We chatted in between the noise of the burners firing every so often until she became irritated with the noise and said, “Do you wanna talk to your dad?”

With a tone of sarcasm and a sense of disbelief, I heard her hand the phone over to my father, “It’s René. She’s calling from a hot air balloon…”

“What’r you doin’?!” my dad answered with surprise.  “I always knew you were full of hot air!”

As I floated over the South Park Valley, experiencing a true Rocky Mountain High, I couldn’t help but think about how life really is like a hot air balloon ride.  You launch with great excitement, hopes for where the wind will take you and what you’ll see.  But it’s really unknown.  Every flight is different.  You don’t know how high you’ll go — maybe you’ll soar at a constant height of a thousand feet, or maybe you’ll spend the bulk of the journey drifting a mere 200 feet above ground.  You don’t know how far you’ll float, nor in which direction.   And landing is a mystery.  You never know where you’ll touch down and what’s worse, you never know how hard.  All you can do is make the most of the flight, enjoy the scenery, and brace for impact.

Full of hot air, my dad said.  I know was he was joking, and a witty joke it was, but I am full of something…  Sure I talk a lot, but I don’t know if I’m so much full of hot-air-talk as I am full of dream-talk.  Dreams and wonders with enough passion and excitement to launch me into the air, into my future.  And I don’t know what’s in store for me on this hot air balloon ride of life, but I do know that the journey will be just as, if not more, breathtaking than that beautiful Colorado valley.  And I do know it will always be filled with uncertainty, and there will be highs and lows, and shifts in speed.  And I will never know quite where I’ll end up, but I do know that I’ll look forward to kissing the ground wherever I touch back down.

P.S. Amazing wedding coming up this afternoon for your Monday viewing pleasure!