The calm before the storm

This morning was the first mass ascension of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, an autumn event which has been around longer than I have. Usually this is a grand occasion for New Mexicans and visitors to don their coats, hats, gloves, and, sometimes thermal, underwear. When I left the house at 5:54 a.m., the outside temperature was 59 degrees. My dad said there was some sort of weather inversion yesterday (yes, my father -- with his degree in English and a background in print journalism -- is qualified to be my weather source). So, today's weather was all nice and pretty. The storm arrived a few minutes ago, but the temp is still hangin' in the upper 60s.

Below are a couple photos I took of the aforementioned hot air balloons. We were watching from our church parking lot which overlooks the city. Unfortunately for us today, the balloons floated away from us.

The first photo is my favorite picture of the morning. This one was taken before the balloons lifted off. I just love New Mexico sunrises!


The second was taken with my regular 18mm-55mm lens that came with the camera. If you look closely, you can see the place where they take off in the lower right corner.


The last photo was taken with my telephoto (75mm-300mm) lens. Absent a traditional tripod, I used the above wall with the cross on it to stabilize my camera.


In the next few days I am hoping to capture some photos from the other side of town with the sun at my back.

Not only is the calm before the storm weather-wise, the same is true for my life. Tomorrow I have a huge workshop, for which I am still preparing. Then the daughter turns 11 next weekend, so Friday we are taking seven 6th-grade girls glow bowling and then allowing them to, a-hem, sleep in our living room. Then I have another workshop and crop Saturday. The week after that I am finally taking the daughter to Iowa to visit my alma mater, Wartburg College. I can't believe I graduated 15 years ago! (Yes, that was an open opportunity to calculate my approximate age.)