Evening Over the Bay Then Albuquerque Balloons

Two halves to this one. The first was up in the hills above Berkeley at dusk, watching the fog bank sit out past the Golden Gate while the East Bay grid lit up below. The city itself was mostly buried under the fog — just the bridge towers and a red line of sky above the whole thing.

The second half was Albuquerque, for the Balloon Fiesta at Balloon Fiesta Park. It's been running since 1972 and bills itself as the world's largest, which after the Mass Ascension I believe — hundreds of balloons going up in waves, so many that at ground level you're just standing in a forest of envelopes waiting their turn.

The special shapes were the draw for me. Two bee balloons holding hands, both wearing pink ribbons. A Wells Fargo stagecoach, wheels and all. A rabbit so big the basket underneath looked like an afterthought, one person in it, drifting past with red pads on its feet.