Here We Go Again - Up in the Air

Two hot air balloons flew over our house this morning around 9 a.m.

The cows stampeded to the other end of the farm.

The balloonists were flying too low. They are supposed to be a certain height over the area and these fliers were not.

It is the "whoosh" of the propane gas burners that scares the cows. This noise like a dragon sets them off and they will run from one end of the farm and through the fence in order to get away from it.

My husband ran outside and began calling the cows to try to calm them. "Whooo cow... Whooo" he cried.

They were not reassured. They ran off like they had Satan on their heels. I took pictures of the low-flying hot air balloons which I will deliver to the Commonwealth's Attorney's office on Monday.

We also yelled at the balloonists. The balloon operators hit their burners and quickly went higher (where they should have been to begin with) and then the wind currents took them in another direction.

I know they heard us because I went up in a hot air balloon once. You can hear everything on the ground, even conversation at normal volume. Sound apparently travels up.

My husband jumped in the truck and went after the cows. They were on the other side of the farm, huddled in the corner at the fence. He had to fire up the tractor and take them a large round bale of hay to coax them out.

After my husband calmed the cows, we called the sheriff.

If the cows go through the fence or if one breaks a leg while running away from these balloons, we are the ones incurring the loss. Not these hot air balloonists. As it was it cost us time, gasoline and a bale of hay that we can ill afford in these times of drought.

Cows are not cheap. We have many thousands of dollars invested in these animals. I understand horses also go nuts at the sound of a hot balloon. I was told last year that one horse badly injured himself trying to jump out of its stall when a balloon went over.

One of the reasons this is so vexing is that if these people would go just 10 more minutes down the road, they could fly over thousands of acres of public National Forest land and not disturb anyone. With all of that National Forest you'd think they could find some place down that way to take off and land that did not inconvenience others. Not all of the National Forest is wooded; there are open fields.

This is the problem with the world today. Everyone is "hooray for me" and "screw you." I don't think for a moment that these balloonists care that they cost my husband an hour of his morning or that he is very upset.

We have had problems with a balloonist in the past. So this is not new, nor is this the first time we've filed a report. We know the drill and that is how I know to take my photos to the Commonwealth's Attorney.

If I were a hot air balloonist and I knew I had people yelling at me, when I landed and was able to locate a computer with the county's GIS on it, I would figure out who those landowners were and I would contact them and apologize. Even if I had to make several calls to get the right farmer.

However we have never had any contact with any of these balloonists and of course we don't have any way to know who they are. I think one of them operates a ballooning business here but I have never seen the multi-colored balloon before.

I wish people would think about their actions. Hot air balloons are lovely but like everything they have their place.

And that is not over a farm full of scared and frightened cattle.