Blogging at 3:00am

Whew, it's pretty clear that a balloon at 3am is something that gets to you. As a recap, the balloon was found stuffed behind a bookcase in the guest bedroom the next morning.

Attempts the next night to recreate the airflow failed miserably. The balloon was still floating around 5-6' off the ground, and with some help it went from the hallway into the bedroom, but then just kept going. Turning the balloon and giving it a gentle push towards the TV, and it kept going until it hit the TV and then started to sink.

Most notably was how "wobbly" the balloon was in all of its motions. Nothing near the smooth more "determined" path it had taken the previous evening.

I'm aware that houses and rooms have wind eddys around trafficked areas, and that air currents can be in different directions at different heights in a room. I still don't have a great explanation for what we saw.

I'll never be able to recreate the conditions of the evening, nor do I think I want to, as it was just a fantastic series of events.

With luck I will be on vacation soon and maybe, with some sleep behind me, I can get some of the blogs in my head back out into the ether where they belong.

-Ed

Bearing Witness

Today was my first Father's Day. We had a small gathering at our house, mostly Linda's family (my sisters were off to the beach this weekend). It was a bittersweet day because I was thinking about my mom quite a bit and how very much she wanted to see me become a father.

About 30 minutes ago, she found a way to wish me Happy Father's Day. The reason that I am blogging at this time of night is that I simply must bear witness to what just happened to Linda and I.

A little background, because I will be relaying an event that is going to sound either fantastic, imagined, or over-analyzed. Linda's birthday balloons from her 30th birthday party are still in our house, and some are still inflated and still float a little. In tidying the house for Father's Day, I grabbed the balloons and put them in a room on the first floor of the house. The air conditioning, while set, was not running. No ceiling fas were on. All windows were closed.

I had trouble sleeping and was up watching television around 2:20am. Linda was asleep next to me in bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the hallway. Stretching in bed to see a little bit into the hallway, it was a balloon, floating about head-height. it was the smiley-face balloon, maybe 18" in diameter. Yellow smiley faces have special significance in my family -- my uncle Ralph would hold one up at any major event, even going so far as to be there with a smiley face on my first day of school, my senior prom, and my wedding day. So, there was a smiley face baloon hovering in the hallway.

Slowly, but not realy *that* slowly, it was coming into the bedroom. This freaked me out a little bit, so I nudged Linda awake. She woke up and I said "Is it coming into the room?" It was freaky because there was no discernable wind and the balloon was certainly moving at a not-trivial pace. The smiley-face balloon, sans string, floated about 3 feet into the bedroom.

Then, it turned 90 degrees. I swear to goodness, it turned on a dime, 90 degrees.

It then floated across the room to the foot of the bed, between us and the TV. It stayed there for about 10 seconds and then started to rise. I attributed its rise to being near the LCD television, which maybe was heating up the helium inside of it. It rose about 2 feet in the air.

Then, it went back the way it came sliding back towards the door.

When it got to the door, it turned 90 degrees. I swear to goodness again. Honest to God, it turned 90 degrees. it then floated back into the hallway.

If Linda was not right next to me observing this, I would have thought I was asleep.

I got out of bed went into the hallway, and turned on the hallway light to try and find the balloon. It was not in the hallway, but, rather, was in the stairwell, all the way up to the ceiling about half-way down the stairs.

We both stood there and stared at it for a few seconds.

Then the balloon, which had been stationary, started moving towards me. It floated directly at me. Linda and I were both standing in the stairwell. It was not coming at us both, it was definitely coming right at me, sinking a little as it went, until it came to rest about a foot away from my left hand.

I took the balloon. Then, frankly, a little terrified, I locked it in the guest bedroom. If I see it again tonight, I will blog again after we flee the house! 8)

I have never, ever had an experience like that in my life. I have never seen an object move with such aparent determination. I have never seen a floating object move at that pace (maybe 1 foot every 5 seconds) with no discernable wind. I have certainly ever seen something trn 90 degrees on a dime, nor have I ever seen an object move across the bed, stop, and then go back the way it came.

It is utterly, completely improbably and unexplainable to me, and I am at a complete loss for words. Which is why I am blogging about this at 3 in the morning. I'm afraid someone will think I was in twilight sleep or that I am loony or joking. As far as I can tell, I am none of those things.

Not wanting to call a family member at 3am to talk about this very odd event, I am bearing witness to what happened through my blog.

I am choosing to believe that it was mom, and dad, wishing me a happy, happy father's day. I am going to try and go to sleep and hope, beyond hope, that I do not wake up in the morning with a smiley face balloon staring at me. Linda and I are going to toss them first thing!

_Ed