By Steve Komadina
Fall and Balloons Are in the Air
Love them or hate them, they returned to the skies over Corrales for the 49th year.Â
First, as a pilot and Balloon Fiesta board member, I want to thank the many Corraleños who welcomed balloons to their fields and made our visitors from across the country welcome. We have admonished the pilots every morning to respect your airspace and to follow your notifications of desire for balloon or no balloons.Â
Horses are prey animals, and are always on the lookout for danger. The shadow of a balloon passing over a pasture, followed by a dragon breath blast from a burner, can be pretty scary. The pilots are aware of that, and try to watch out and avoid sensitive properties.Â
Thank you again for your tolerance or celebration of the 10 days of balloon flights.Â
Same goes for fireworks shows. Dogs and other animals react in a variety of ways and, again, let me extend our thanks to allowing the show to go on for the 10 days of fiesta. Many Corrales pilots participate in running the fiesta, being a part of the show and financing the event with their sponsorships. Thank you again to all.Â
By the time you read this, we will be halfway through this year’s event, and peace will return quickly to the early morning skies and all we will have left will be the memories.
We do live in a magical place and I for one will keep celebrating being a member of this community and your neighbor.Â
May we continue to have gentle breezes and soft landings.Â