- Up, Up and Away by Laurie Buchanan
Do you remember the song “Up, Up and Away” by The 5th Dimension?
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly we can fly
On one of the days during our recent vacation we were driving through a wealthy coastal neighborhood taking a peek (gawking, actually) at the beautiful, multi-million dollar homes.
Low and behold we see a hot-air balloon just clearing the terra cotta roof tops. There’s a delicate dignity about this enormous craft as it floats gracefully in-between the lilac and turquoise colored sky enhanced by the incoming, darker clouds.
In doing research as to why people would want to ride in a hot-air balloon, I discovered:
“People take hot-air balloon rides for a variety of reasons: birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations. Balloon rides have been given as gifts for Christmas, Hanukah, Mother’s/Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. Many companies use balloon rides to say ‘Thank You’ to clients or as employee incentives. It’s hard to say ‘no’ to a marriage proposal when it’s done in as romantic and as spectacular a way as a balloon flight. Lately, there are those who are checking off an item on their ‘bucket list’ as just something they’ve always wanted to do.”
The quote was taken from the Light Flight Balloons, Inc. & Barnstormer Aero’s fantastic website. They’re located in Bel Air, Maryland.
Barbara Kass, geographically, I think you’re the closest reader of this blog. I’m pretty sure that means you’re elected to go take a hot-air balloon ride this summer and tell us all about it over on your blog, Eternal Presence.
Mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, what is it that lifts you up and carries you?
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan
www.HolEssence.com and our Facebook page
© 2011 Laurie Buchanan – All Rights Reserved
Tuesdays with Laurie 
I’ve floated over the fields and hills and valleys and hedges in a basket under a balloon. Just as you’d imagine it can be a serene way to slip silently overhead. Then every now and then the burner roars to keep you aloft. Or to make sure you merely give those folders below a surprise and don’t actually land on their green. Or to ensure you carry on over that prison and don’t land just yet please.
I saw ostriches corralled where I expected to see cows. And then, at the top of a hill where the road twisted, I passed over a house and noticed a message not intended for the resident. Someone had painted in giant white letters on the sloping roof – so as not to be seen by one standing in front of the house – a message. It read: Here lives a very greedy woman.
Fallout from a divorce settlement I presume. I guess she got the house. Wonder how long it took her to notice the message above her head?
Paul – I love the word picture you painted of hot air ballooning, and then wrap it up with the roof-top message 🙂
Love it!
My typing is suspect.
I meant to write “golfers” not “folders” lining up their shots on the green.
Paul – I hadn’t even noticed. I guess my eyes saw what they wanted to see.
Remember that song?
Yes, I do.
I remember bouncing on the sofa with my cousin as we belted out that song. We believed we really could fly.
One of the things that lights me up and carries me away is that memory.
Flying in a hot air balloon was on my mom’s bucket list. So was visiting New Zealand. Some day I hope to complete her list.
Leanne – I can just see you and your cousin 🙂 and I have every confidence that you’ll complete you mom’s bucket list. Thank you for stopping by Speaking from the Heart today, I always appreciate your visits.
What lifts me up?
Today, you did Laurie, with this uplifting post 🙂 It must have been a gorgeous sight! And yes, I remember the song well…..
Rick’s Mom celebrated her 80th birthday with a balloon ride along the Queensland coast. She LOVED it and is planning another on her 90th.
Colleen – I’m tickled that this post served as a pick-me-up for you. Please tell your mother-in-law from you, “YOU GO, GIRL!“
Laurie, I’ll pass this on to her. She’ll love your comment!
Interesting post Laurie, it took me back a few years when my son was visiting me in New Mexico and we went up to Colorado for an early morning hot air balloon ride. Pretty trippy stuff being up up and away in a beautiful balloon.
As for what lifts me up an carries me away. . . well sometimes it’s those memories of past adventures such as the hot air balloon ride with my son and sometimes it’s the anticipation of new adventures, such as the one I’m getting ready to take tomorrow.
I’ll be returning to a place I once called home for many years – Hawaii. The Aloha Spirit in the islands definately lifts me up and carries me away!!
Alison – Ohhhhhhhhh, have a wonderful time in Hawaii 🙂
Hi, Laurie! Yes, I am close to Bel Air, MD, and I have not yet taken a balloon ride. I always am filled with these Wizard of Oz fantasies. Back in El Paso, Texas, there was a group of balloonists who would float around every Saturday when the weather permitted. But, they had to get up in the air and down before it got too hot. Evidently hot air inside and hot air outside = dropping to the ground without warning.
I will take a balloon trip here soon and definitely tell you all about it on Eternal Presence!
Barbara – I can just see you up there with a note pad or digital recorder capturing thoughts for your blog! Maybe January would be game to join you? It would be a wonderful memory that she’d never forget.
I’m counting on it…
I think I am going to plan a trip to do it with you……I prommise I won’t make wizard of Oz jokes or worse…..LOL
Looks like a great thing to do…..put that on my bucket list!
I love to watch hot air balloons up in the air. I would like to ride in one some day. There is an annual Hot Air Balloon event every year in Simsonville, SC. I have not been yet, but I will one of these days.
Ann – I can see a hot air balloon event being a wonderful photo opportunity — whether you’re in the basket, or on the ground watching it. I hope you have the opportunity to go this summer.
I think they may have already had the event, but if not I doubt I will be able to make it this year.
Hi Laurie! Adventure lifts me!!! I rode in a balloon with my boyfriend Sean in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They told us tradition held that you had to drink champagne afterwards. Oh darn it was in the morning and we partook anyway!
Beth – Now that you say it, I remember you and Sean doing that 🙂
What lifts me up? People whose energy–like yours–is uplifting, supportive and fun. Up, up and away, Laurie!!
Kathy – Oh, how fun to read your comment this morning. Thank you 🙂
I’d still love to go for a ride a hot-air balloon! It sounds like a thrill I could manage. One Mother’s Day my daughter offered to take me sky-diving and I recoiled at the thought. (I hated to sound ungrateful, so I did honestly consider it, but…) Maybe someday she’ll respond to my hints about hot-air balloon rides… It would be fun to see the roof tops and tree tops from a different perspective.
Connecting with others lifts me up. And listening to great music, reading poetry, stories and blogs, writing, walking on the beach or in the woods, looking at beautiful paintings – all these make my spirit soar!
Barbara – I think it’s cool that you at least considered sky-diving with your daughter 🙂 and I’ll just bet she’d be game if you came right out and said, “Let’s go hot-air ballooning” that she’d jump at the opportunity!
I like the juicy list of things your wrote that make your spirit soar!
I like music that strikes a chord within, just thinking of the 5th Dimension made me think of ” When the Moon is in the 7th House and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet and Love will rule the stars.” I have had a brain itch going lately with Emerson, Lake and Palmer singing ” Jerusalem”. It makes me want to jump up and yell!
Sandi – “I love a tune that makes me want to tap my toes and shake my booty 🙂
Like Paul says, floating in a hot air balloon is very noisy when the burner is going, and it is a fun way to see the countryside.
What lifts me, is being of service to others – doing something that makes a real difference.
Ted – “…being of service to others…” That’s music to my ears 🙂
I met a couple from Scotland who had just gotten married in the Grand Canyon and then took a balloon ride for the length – then off to SF to have a real Thanksgiving dinner American Style and a wine tasting tour before heading home.
They decided that their 2 week State side trip was better than a traditional party love fest….I thought it was Grand and they were so happy.
Creative
Patricia – That sounds like a great idea, and a trip of a lifetime!
The metaphysical thrust of THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON certainly comes to mind, as does THE RED BALLOON (1956) and the recent Pixar animated feature UP.
Heck, I even listened to the soundtrack of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS just earlier this week.
Love, love, love this post and the use of the metaphor Laurie!
Sam – Wow, you’re definitely resonating with the theme of this post. I remember The Red Balloon — if I’m not mistaken, it takes place in France (Paris, I think). Now I’m going to have to see it again to be sure 🙂 I hope Lucille is enjoying a wonderful Mother’s Day – please give her my best.
Thank you for your thoughtful blog and this lovely post. This song reminds me of my wonderful mother who has been gone for 20 years. When I was a child, she used to put on her Andy Williams record and we would listen to Up, Up and Away. We would take the kitchen stools, turn them upside down, climb inside them, and pretend that we were in hot air balloon baskets, flying up, up and away. The lyrics sum up the kind of incredible mom she was:
If you’ll hold my hand we’ll chase your dream across the sky
For we can fly, we can fly
Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
She taught me to follow my dreams and always encouraged me to pursue my passion for being an artist. I am blogging about my journey now and think of her so often. She continues to inspire me and uplift my spirit.
Laura – I love that you and your mom got inside upside-down bar stools and pretended that you were in hot air balloon baskets! The word picture you painted of your mother is lovely, and it sounds like the nut didn’t fall very far from the tree. Thank you for visiting Speaking from the Heart.