This isn’t a typical balloon fest
Who wouldn’t enjoy a vacation trip out west? In particular, there is a spectacular event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that features a lot of colorful hot air balloons.
Get out your pocketbook.
It is going to involve a serious outlay of coins to get you there and back.
Might I be so bold as to offer up an alternative suggestion? Consider a “staycation,” instead. Right in your very own neighborhood you should be able to bear witness to an equally majestic ballooning event.
As you might now imagine, I am sort of pulling your leg. I am not talking about hot air balloons. Instead, I am making reference to the activities of very tiny spiders.
Go take a look for yourself.
Find a spot where you can watch the setting sun. If there is a natural area between you and the west, all the better. As the waning sun’s golden rays backlight the features of the landscape, you might be rewarded with a view of hundreds ... nay, thousands! ... of silky threads wafting in the breeze.
These almost-invisible filaments are what remains of the activities of “ballooning” spiders. These creatures release a long piece of silk into Oklahoma’s ever-present breeze, and they eventually let loose of their anchors and drift away to parts unknown. It is Mother Nature’s way of dispersing spiders from one location to another.
Take a friend. Take a lawn chair. Take a tall glass of iced tea. Make a neighborhood party out of it. It is, after all, our community’s version of a hot-air balloon festival.
It’s a whale of a lot cheaper than going to New Mexico.