Taken from an air balloon looking down, this is a creative view of hot air balloons. The shadows of balloons spreading across the grassy plains of the Californian mountains create a mysterious, timeless feeling. The contrast between the bright colors of the balloons and its black and white surroundings adds to the intrigue of this dreamlike image.
Inspirational Poems
A Red Balloon Dream
by dracegannon
a burst of joy,
inside the boy
a click-eddy-clack
well, this or that
the little boy
joggled all kinds of stuff
an ice-cream cone, did he
yes, all of that
He skipped and bounced
a red balloon
just weigh an ounce
tied to a string
ascending larks sing
a lick-eddy split
He clicked both heels
a zoom, a zest and zeal
As fast, as grease lightening
to the top of the hill
like a trumpet, and
a chorus of ducks,
he blew out a shout, did he
hey, look at me,
just look what I got
a red balloon
yes, I like it a lot
then a strong gust of wind came along
with a thump, a thrash and a snatched
away with a zoom and a red balloon
much too far for me to catch
the red balloon climbed
above snow white clouds,
clouds appeared like
fluffy mashed potatoes,
waiting for a spoon
the red balloon soared,
as free as a bird,
without a word
Well, it decided
to go to the moon,
The red balloon shined,
As bright as the silver, spoon
So, the red balloon dream
believed it could fly,
through the air with ease, and
danced above the ground
like a Tennessee Waltz,
on a park bench or tied to a tree,
the red balloon traveled above
kings and castles
Well, the red balloon sailed away from the
little boy’s hand, but just around the
corner and up over the bend, you can find
a red balloon dream, in a little boy’s heart
Air Balloons and History of Flight
The attempt to conquer through science led to a growing body of both serious and imaginative literature regarding flight, setting the stage for the first successful aeronautical idea--the concept of lighter-than-air flight. The display briefly reviews the history of balloons culminating in the Montgolfier brothers’ successful manned ascent at Versailles in 1783, witnessed by Benjamin Franklin. The dream was still only partially realized since, as Benjamin Franklin presciently remarked, these great bags of gas and their airship successors “must always be subject to be driven by the Winds . . . .” In short, balloons could rise, but horizontal flight was not in their control.
THE MONTGOLFIER BROTHERS' HOT-AIR BALLOON
The first manned balloon flight, in a Montgolfier designed hot-air balloon on November 21, 1783, lasted twenty-five minutes and landed about five-and-one-half miles from the Paris site where it started. The volunteer "aeronauts" were Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier (1757-1785) and the Marquis d'Arlandes (1742-1809). Benjamin Franklin was among the spectators. In a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society of London, Franklin presciently observes the lack of navigational control, saying, "These Machines must always . . . be driven by the Winds. Perhaps Mechanic Art may find easy means to give them progressive Motion."