There’s an annual balloon festival in Hudson, MA. The festival itself isn’t much, a dozen or so local vendors, but it happens to be across the street from Reeny, so it’s hard to argue against checking it out. I was somewhat surprised that it seems fairly easy to get one in the air, you roll it out, blow a fan into it, and fire it up when it’s almost ready. I’m sure there are some tricks, but they’re typically launched by just a few people. It was also a good test of one of my new toys, the circular polarizing lens filter, which can really make the blue sky and clouds pop.