Well, I still think you're being a little hopeful that these guys can get a balloon off the ground without help, but let's find out :)
Rising above The balloon rose into the air rapidly as Jimmy cast off the ropes for us, running frantically round the basket as fast as his skinny legs would carry him. We had a bit of a jolt with the last one, and then the ascent was smooth. There were a collection of oohs and aahs as we disappeared into the sky, and I couldn't help but smile at them. "Didn't get that with Herr Markus," said Ben, looking over the side of the basket. "I think the few people who turned up were either bored or hoping for a ride themselves." "Gets boring quickly up here though," I said. "It's peaceful and everything, but it's not like there's a lot to do." Ben tugged on a rope, and I wished it didn't look experimental. "Which way?" he said. "I've got an idea about how this might work." Ben's ideas are usually impulsive and often about as well thought through as the time we ended up knee-deep in a pig-sty trying to bury a goat that had choked to death on a housecat. The original plan had been to feed the goat to a pig, but the pig has escaped while we were trying to drag the goat in, and... well, that's a story for another time. I looked over the basket, and pointed eastwards. "Over the mountain," I said. "Well, from here we can see it's really just a big hill and the actual mountains are behind it, but what I want to know is where that underground river is likely to go." I crossed to the other side of the basket, placing my feet on the struts that supported the canvas because it felt more secure. "See, there's the mine." Ben peered over my shoulder and grunted. "We think the river must run through there, and we were definitely inside the mountain over there. Humbug Gulch runs straight through the middle of a line drawn between the two, but it disappears underground over there." I pointed again, and Ben glanced. He heaved on some ropes and the balloon lurched to one side. I grabbed the side of the basket and decided to keep hold of it. "See, what I think is that Humbug Gulch is an overspill from the river." I pointed north, to where something glittered. "The locals will probably say that the Gulch comes from the lake, but I reckon the land is too flat for that. You'd never the strength of running water that we've seen down there." "You're sounding mighty educated," said Ben. "What's Josie been feeding you that you're not sharing?" I laughed. We were heading east now, though I could feel a breeze on the side of my face that meant we weren't being exactly pushed by the wind. "How did you get this thing to fly in the right direction." "I haven't," said Ben. "This is just sort of the right direction. And we can't fly against the wind, so either we wait for the wind to change before we come back, or we don't stay up too long, or we got a long walk back. Carrying this thing." I stared over the side of the basket, studying the landscape below, realising that the long walk was the likely option. We drifted over the mountain we'd climbed so recently, and to my absolute astonishment the first thing we saw on the other side was another lake. It nestled into the rocky side of the mountain, and three tributaries ran off in different ways. The one that caught my attention though was the one that ran off and disappeared into the side of the next mountain along; from up here you could clearly see that someone or something had been widening and straightening it. I pointed at it. "That's it, Ben," I said. "That's where the river goes. Let's turn this thing around, get Jimmy, and come back here and do some more hunting."
Greg - the goat, pig, and cat story is just the right amount of ridiculous for those two.
And I'm glad their airborne adventure was both worthwhile and uneventful. Two things I don't typically associate with these two, now that I think about it...
2 comments:
Well, I still think you're being a little hopeful that these guys can get a balloon off the ground without help, but let's find out :)
Rising above
The balloon rose into the air rapidly as Jimmy cast off the ropes for us, running frantically round the basket as fast as his skinny legs would carry him. We had a bit of a jolt with the last one, and then the ascent was smooth. There were a collection of oohs and aahs as we disappeared into the sky, and I couldn't help but smile at them.
"Didn't get that with Herr Markus," said Ben, looking over the side of the basket. "I think the few people who turned up were either bored or hoping for a ride themselves."
"Gets boring quickly up here though," I said. "It's peaceful and everything, but it's not like there's a lot to do."
Ben tugged on a rope, and I wished it didn't look experimental. "Which way?" he said. "I've got an idea about how this might work."
Ben's ideas are usually impulsive and often about as well thought through as the time we ended up knee-deep in a pig-sty trying to bury a goat that had choked to death on a housecat. The original plan had been to feed the goat to a pig, but the pig has escaped while we were trying to drag the goat in, and... well, that's a story for another time. I looked over the basket, and pointed eastwards.
"Over the mountain," I said. "Well, from here we can see it's really just a big hill and the actual mountains are behind it, but what I want to know is where that underground river is likely to go." I crossed to the other side of the basket, placing my feet on the struts that supported the canvas because it felt more secure. "See, there's the mine." Ben peered over my shoulder and grunted. "We think the river must run through there, and we were definitely inside the mountain over there. Humbug Gulch runs straight through the middle of a line drawn between the two, but it disappears underground over there." I pointed again, and Ben glanced. He heaved on some ropes and the balloon lurched to one side. I grabbed the side of the basket and decided to keep hold of it. "See, what I think is that Humbug Gulch is an overspill from the river." I pointed north, to where something glittered. "The locals will probably say that the Gulch comes from the lake, but I reckon the land is too flat for that. You'd never the strength of running water that we've seen down there."
"You're sounding mighty educated," said Ben. "What's Josie been feeding you that you're not sharing?"
I laughed. We were heading east now, though I could feel a breeze on the side of my face that meant we weren't being exactly pushed by the wind. "How did you get this thing to fly in the right direction."
"I haven't," said Ben. "This is just sort of the right direction. And we can't fly against the wind, so either we wait for the wind to change before we come back, or we don't stay up too long, or we got a long walk back. Carrying this thing."
I stared over the side of the basket, studying the landscape below, realising that the long walk was the likely option.
We drifted over the mountain we'd climbed so recently, and to my absolute astonishment the first thing we saw on the other side was another lake. It nestled into the rocky side of the mountain, and three tributaries ran off in different ways. The one that caught my attention though was the one that ran off and disappeared into the side of the next mountain along; from up here you could clearly see that someone or something had been widening and straightening it. I pointed at it.
"That's it, Ben," I said. "That's where the river goes. Let's turn this thing around, get Jimmy, and come back here and do some more hunting."
Greg - the goat, pig, and cat story is just the right amount of ridiculous for those two.
And I'm glad their airborne adventure was both worthwhile and uneventful. Two things I don't typically associate with these two, now that I think about it...
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