On Friday morning, my alarm clock jarred me from sleep, the angry, green numbers blinking 5:07, 5:07, 5:07.
It's still the middle of the night in California, I thought. I groaned. I sighed. I stretched.
As long as the "a.m." is as dark as night, it's too early to be roused from my cotton camaraderie.
Had my alarm not blared a second warning nine minutes later, sleep
would've taken me once more. Reluctantly, I pulled myself from my sheets
and clothed myself in jeans and a black cardigan. I ran brushes through
my hair and over my teeth, respectively. And, by 5:50, I was driving to
the state fairgrounds, with Lord Huron in the CD player. Traffic was
sparse at that hour, and it was still dark when I turned onto 38th
Street. I was not alone in going to the fairgrounds, however; there were
a few dozen of us who shuffled through the admission gates. The fair,
like the rest of the world, was silent. The midway was unlit, the food
tents shrouded. It was opening day, sure, but it was early. Still too
early. And so, with shoulder bags and coffee mugs and drowsy
dispositions, we fair-goers made our way toward the infield.
I found
Brandon first, dressed for work and toting a
tripod. Together, he and I walked to the heart of the fairgrounds,
where we quickly found the rest of our comrades: adventurous
Ian, with
his backpack and baseball cap;
Steven, playful even at 6:15 in the
morning; and
Troy, whose three little ones fluttered about his legs. Our
small group grew, however, with the arrival of
Shawn, an
explorer who was five weeks into a year-long trip around the United
States. Shawn had been staying in Indianapolis for a few days, and
already had met up with several local Instagrammers. But, on Friday
morning, he met us for a sunrise hot air balloon launch in the mostly-shuttered fairgrounds.
... Which, by the way, was utterly, totally, and irrevocably worth waking up for.

Wow, hot air balloons go so well with sunrises. ♥ Gorgeous pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you! When I was little, my mom took me to a hot air balloon launch at sunset, which was pretty, but there's something magical about sunrises, too!
DeleteBeautiful pictures and story! Some of my favorite memories as a kid are driving to church early Sunday morning and seeing the hot air balloons rise above the city. I can even remember hearing the sound of the flames firing into the balloons :)
ReplyDeleteYour photos are amazing!...
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was definitely worth the early wake-up call once I saw that the sun was coming up.
DeleteBeautiful! I've never been to one of these launches. I have seen hot air balloons a couple of times from a distance and far up in the sky, but I'd like to see them like this some day. I'd never go up in one, though, couldn't pay me.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely stunning, Dawn. Feel like I'm there.
ReplyDelete