Stuff you can't make up.

Usually it's the Denver Post guy with his bad muffler who wakes me up in the morning. He must have fixed his muffler because I haven't heard him the last couple weeks. This morning, around 7:00, I kept hearing a different noise outside. I looked out the window and it was a balloon-not the size you blow up or buy for your kids-and it was headed for our house. He was really throwing the gas to the burner to stay up. He passed over us and landed in a field at the end of the our cul-de-sac. I walked down to the end of the street to see what would happen next. I was the first one there but soon my neighbors came out in all sorts of levels of dress-I won't go into detail. The balloon was still upright but they could only keep it three to five feet off the ground. They were going to try to get it to our street so they could shut it down and fold it up. About five of them managed to get the balloon high enough to clear a barbed wire fence and on to our street. After avoiding a lamp post, it was a piece of cake. They deflated the balloon and started to roll it up. The pilot asked what street they were on so the chase car could find them. Half an hour later it was all gone.

I've seen a balloon almost land in a pond a couple blocks from our house and one almost land on C-470 which is a major four-lane highway in south Denver but I've never had one almost hit my house. Try explaining to your insurance company how your house was damaged by a balloon.