What's new in Maine?

First, many thanks to those of you who sent your thoughts and compliments regarding my last post. I think that will be a moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The past week and a half have buzzed by. Before I left for our VT vacation, I commented that my freelance writing jobs assignments had slowed down considerably. I wasn't complaining, really, because I should be working on the memoir essays that I talked with an agent in NYC about. I've made some progress, though. Anyway, while I was gone, I literally got slammed with new assignments. What's that saying, "be careful what you wish for?" One of my assignments was taking photos for a profile of a local hot air balloonist. Each year here in our town, we have a huge balloon festival. The paper does a whole section on it, and I was asked to contribute three stories and some pictures! Wow! Here's a bit of my work--still working on the camera settings and such, but I have to say that these didn't come out too badly! Walter and Gayle getting the balloon ready to go. It's about 6:30 am. We had to meet at the ass-crack of dawn, but it was worth it! Time for Launch! For such a large object, it floats so smoothly (yeah, I wasn't in the thing, but it looked that way!) On the chase, which was a riot! Driving along backroads, I found places in Auburn I had no idea existed. Beautiful! The clouds broke away about 40 minutes into the balloon's flight. Sometimes I just marvel at the job I have.... Jon says I that I have to get in one of these things now. I've always said, "Never!", but then again, I said that about parasailing, too. Still, I went during my honeymoon. Isn't it amazing what some people with do for love? As for getting in a hot-air balloon, all I can say is that if Walter and his crew are running the show, I'd consider it. They were that fantastic. Now, that would make for some great shots... For those of you who know Heidi from Heidi's Daze, I can tell you that she and her family made it to Ohio fine--although a bit worn out from the long drive and the stresses that come with the move. Their furniture and other stuff got there earlier than expected (only by a day, but, hey, it's better than late!). She's hoping to be back online within the week. I know I miss her, and her blogging buddies will be thrilled to have her back! I have some pics to download for a story I just turned in, so I suppose I'd better go do that. More later, I hope!