Albuquerque Ballooon Fiesta, mass ascension

The balloons took off seemingly for hours, hundreds of them, wave after wave, an experience as bubbly and intoxicating as champagne. I do not remember if my groin hurt or not while I was walking in the wet grass - I was too high for that.

After the semi-marathon I was listless about running. Then I discovered I was injured - yeah, I know, it took me two weeks to reach insight, that's slow, but hey, marathon is about endurance first, not speed. My mind doesn't work that fast.

Now I feel as if something has been taken away from me, and it hurts my spirit more than it hurts in the body.

But I was able to forget the frustration for a few morning hours, in the elation of mass ascension. There is nothing like it. There is nothing like a balloon mass ascension. Here they are, swirling in the sky above us like constellations.