July 2000
Flying
byGeorgeDenniston
niston is presented to enhance safe flyin g
by providing balloonists the oppo rtunity
to gain experience from others without
actually flying. The column is edited b y
George Denniston who is a d octor and
balloonist living in Seattle, Washington.
Articles may be signed or anonymous to
protect the privacy of those involv ed, as
the author wishes. If you have an experi-
ence th at you would like to share with
others, send your manuscript to Balloo n
Life magazine, Hangar Fly ing wi th
George Denniston, 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2 331. Submissions
may be typewritten, submitted on disk
(Mac or IBM format), or e-mailed to
tom@balloonlife.com. Balloon Life pays
$35 for each story used.
summeryearsagonearSunCity,
Arizona,mypassengersandIhadbeen
hangingoverthegroundsofa Catholic
Churchon Sundaymorning for aninter-
minableamountoftime.Therewasno
wind, sothe balloon wasnot goingany-
where.Ibegantoworryaboutrunning
out of fuel. Looking down, I noticed that
a priesthadstepped outof the church.
I calledout to the priest: “I hope the
did not d isturb your
sermon!”
“No,myson,”hereplied,“you
haven’tdisturbedourservices.Ijust
steppedouttoseewhatthecommotio n
was.”
“Father, would youmindif I landed
on your grass?”
“Notatall,myson,providingyou
arewillingtojoin u s inside for celebra-
tionafterwards!” Thispriest saw anop-
portunity to share the grace of a beautiful
morning with somenomadic, yet elevated,
passing travelers.
For amoment, I considered thecir-
cumstances. Iwas forcing myselfto weigh
the possibilities of conv ersion versus the
alternative of other land ingsites.
Finally,Iresponded,“Father,my
wifeisagoodCatholicgirl.However,
I’ma SouthernBaptist!”
“That’s all right, my son. God under-
stands misdirection.”
By this time, everyone in th e church
hadcomeout toseewhatallthe ex cite-
mentwas. Ilandedhappilyinthegrass
next to the church. Ladies in d resses an d
gentlemanindarksuitshelpedmilkthe
balloon and then p ackit all back into the
chase vehicle.
“Normallythewholeflockdoesn’t
thechurchtowelcome newcomers,
but today is a joyous exception,” said the
priest.Withthe balloonequipmentlov-
inglypackedaway, the flockreturnedto
the church. The rest of us, passengers an d
crew, entered the church for Sunday ser-
vicesrightbehindthem.Tonotdoso
might make one more scarce landingsite
unavailab le. But still Iwas worried. There
isapointof law thatsaysanindividual
shall not b eheld accountable for commit-
ments mad e under duress. I wondered if
Ihadavalidexcusenottoconvert…
Well,itturnsoutthatmywifeisstilla
good Catholic girl, and I’m still a South-
ernBaptist,althoughmorereverentto-
dayth anI wasthen.
Oneofthechoicesthatballoonists
may have to make is the decision whether
toflyonSundayorwhethertoattend
church.I’ve alwaysfeltthatonmanya
Sunday mornin g, I wascloser toheaven
than I would have been attending church.
HoweverImustadmitthatthisisan
awfullycon venientexcuse.Overthe
years, I’ve n ot known how many passen-
gers chose Saturday over Sunday for cel-
ebrationpurpo ses,norh owmanybal-
loonists fly only on Saturday for the same
reason.
