Wednesday, April 25, 2007

floating away

Every day, we get twenty-four balloons. I love balloons, but I can’t keep them. The thing with these balloons is, you can give them away, you can exchange them for all kinds of things, but it’s impossible to hold on to them. One by one, they keep going away. Looking over my shoulder, I see one floating into the sky, and regardless of how I feel about that one, I think the next one will be better.
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Most people I meet say they wish they could have more, but that wouldn’t be fair, would it?

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Tonight I’ll trade one balloon to sit on a rainsoaked hill, watching my nearly toothless 8-year-old run up and down a soccer field. He always looks straight ahead, not having any concept of all the balloons floating away. But the moms and dads on the sidelines, we’re quite aware of all the balloons racing towards the stratosphere

16 comments:

Lifelong Learner said...

Do you have any rules to add to my post? ha!

I liked this post. Don't you just love 8 year olds? They just eat life, don't they? And so perfectly imperfect. A friend of mine called his kids that once, and I like it. I'm thinking of writing something with that title.

Blessings, and enjoy the the High Calling tour!

Craver Vii said...

Stacy!!!! I'm so glad you dropped by. Maybe you can answer something a young lady asked last week:
I wonder if people in China (or Taiwan) ever joke about digging their way to America.

L.L. Barkat said...

yes, I've often thought that life is full of trades... each gain entails some kind of loss...

Llama Momma said...

I'm thinking about the joy that comes when we give our balloons freely to others. Sometimes I'm tempted to hoard them for myself, but they're so much less fun that way.

Unknown said...

Balloons! I have balloons? Make mine all red, please!

spaghettipie said...

Ok, was it just me or did anyone else have to read that a couple times to get the metaphor? I spent the first time through just thinking, why does Craver buy 24 balloons every day? Is it really safe to drive with that many balloons in your car? I wonder what people say when they see him coming with that many balloons?

I get it now...and it's a nice metaphor. My daughter got a balloon this morning when we went to the grocery store. I tried to tie it to the cart so it wouldn't float away, but she wouldn't have that. She wanted to hold it herself. I warned her that if she didn't hold onto it, it would slip away and she'd be sorry. But she didn't really listen as she squealed and giggled while she played with it. Then, eventually she did let go and said uh-oh as she pointed to the ceiling. Finally, after she realized I couldn't get it back, she just said "Bye bye, boon."

So many times I try to be productive with my balloons, that I just miss out on enjoying them. It's okay that they slip away. I can't really hold on forever, anyway.

Thanks for the reminder.

Lifelong Learner said...

As a matter of fact, yes they do.

"They say, "Women jhong guo ren yao wa di dao dao Mei guo qu."

The Chinese are going to dig their way all the way to America. It's a bit funnier in Chinese than it is in translation. :)

Llama Momma said...

SP's story reminds me of one of my boys, who refuses to take a balloon at the grocery store because "it might float away." Now that's a cup half-full kind of guy, ay? ;-p

jazzycat said...

Craver,
Have you ever been to the hot air ballon festival in Alburq...., N.M?

Pete Juvinall said...

You know that as a 34 (months away from 35...wow!) year old, I'd like to think that I'm aware of the balloons, but trying to appreciate just how beautiful they are as they float up and be appreciative of the ones I'm allowed to see.

Amy Goodyear said...

The thing about trying to hang onto balloons is that they either pop, or you wake up the next day and they've deflated onto the dining room floor, looking like giant, wrinkled prunes. I'd rather trade them while they can still fly.

Thanks for the comment on my blog and the link.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes, when our balloon floats away and we are left crying, it actually makes its way to someone who gave all of her balloons away and needed one from someone else.

Craver Vii said...

Hey people! I've been away all day, sorry. And yeah, the balloon story was thrown together hastily, because I was low on, um... balloons. And then, soccer practice was postponed 'till Friday.

Red balloons, Eve, que sorpreza!

Shi-shi, Stacy! I'll ask a Chinese coworker to pronounce it for me.

LM, that depends on what's in the cup.

Jazz, nope. 'Never been to Albuquerque, but there's a balloon festival in Lisle, just North of my home.

You got it, Pete.

Amy, your visit is a great honor. C'mon Pete, move over and let the lady have a seat.

Craver Vii said...

Hiiiii Charity!!!

Martin Stickland said...

Hello Craver!

We have a garden full of ballons, so that is where they have come from! Do you want me to DHL them back to you or shall i make one big balloon out of them to send on to someone else?

Have a nice weekend mate!

Halfmom said...

time on the soccer field is (are when there were multiple ones at home) well spent - in fact, I've seen it help O lead someone to Christ - so sit on brother, even in the rain (and a few times, she played in the snow too)