Last Thursday, our family went to a free carnival put on for grad students and their families. It had everything a carnival ought to have -- carnival food, face painting, bean tosses, stuffed animals -- without any of the things that make carnivals not so great -- dirty, dark, expensive, creepy, loud, crowded, etc.
As we were leaving, the organizers of the activity asked if we'd like a balloon. We looked at everything we would have to manage to get on and off the bus in the drizzly, windy night -- a stroller, baby in the car seat, new teddy bear, balloon animal Spiderman, diaper bag -- and said, "Sure."
Well, we made it, and even our balloons made it too. This was great news, but it also meant that Jim had to suffer the disappointment of watching his balloon lose its helium. It's like what Harvey Dent said in Batman* -- "You either lose your balloon in the sky or it lasts long enough to become really lame."
Anyway, a long time ago I explored the first fate of the carnival balloon in a poem recently discovered in my yellow notebook. (Luckily or unluckily for you, this is probably the second to last poem I will share because the rest are too painfully embarrassing, even now.)
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| Capta Nerica. |
Well, we made it, and even our balloons made it too. This was great news, but it also meant that Jim had to suffer the disappointment of watching his balloon lose its helium. It's like what Harvey Dent said in Batman* -- "You either lose your balloon in the sky or it lasts long enough to become really lame."
 |
| No offense, peg-leg Spiderman. |
Anyway, a long time ago I explored the first fate of the carnival balloon in a poem recently discovered in my yellow notebook. (Luckily or unluckily for you, this is probably the second to last poem I will share because the rest are too painfully embarrassing, even now.)
Where do lost balloons end up
When they float from a child's hand?
Do they end up in the sky
Or back down on the land?
Scientifically, we know that
Balloons will pop up high
When the pressure kept inside it
Exceeds the pressure of the sky.
But, what then? Does it float back down
To where it first ascended?
Are fairgrounds littered with bits of balloon
Which reached the sky while untended?
Or do they fall into the seas
Which cover most the globe,
Or deserts, or jungles, or swamps --
Or deserts, or jungles, or swamps --
Nowhere that anyone would probe.
Ah, to follow the route of a balloon
Into the stratosphere,
Then follow it down back to the ground
To see if it lands far or near.
Does anyone actually know the answer to my question? I know I ran into a fallen balloon once on a hike, but I feel like it should happen a lot more often given how many balloons there are.
Also, do balloons even make it to the stratosphere?
*paraphrased, of course. Very, very paraphrased.
*paraphrased, of course. Very, very paraphrased.
Sounds kind of like a question for the xkcd guy...i think I always adhered to the ocean explanation but now that I think about it more, I'm not sure that makes much sense. I remember the first time Naomi brought home a helium balloon. She woke up the next morning to find it on the ground and she kept trying to place it in the air. She was so sad when it wouldn't stay.
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