Rinconcito de Amor: XXXVI. Regata de Globos

Regatta of Hot Air Balloons

Globos are unmanned hot air balloons about the size of a small garage, and Regata de Globos has become an Ajijic tradition to kick off Fiestas Patrias--a week of celebrations that commemorate Mexico's call to independence from Spain. About every two minutes for over three hours there's a launch from one of the many teams gathered in the fútbol field. Sometimes the balloon comes down in flames over one of the adjacent gated, ex-pat communities, but mostly it continues to rise and slowly recede from view into the high blue distance. The following is a pictorial chronicle of the event.

As the guy on his belly, far right, holds the lit propane torch to heat the air inside the balloon, some of his assistants patch any leaks that have appeared. Others hold the balloon's side away from the flame, and the fellow with the combustible pad in hand stands ready to hand it over for placement just inside the balloon's neck, to keep the air heated and the balloon aloft.

The combustible pad is lit and attached in place and the 15 foot tall balloon begins to rise. The banner acts as ballast to keep the globo more or less upright. Otherwise the small flame may touch the side and the balloon quickly disintegrate in a ball of fire.

The balloon is on its way!

Uh-oh. A nearby group has interrupted their preparations for launch to watch something in the sky that appears to give alarm. What could it be?

It's not our Team Orange's balloon, but another that has caught fire!

This balloon is now just a burnin', churnin' hunk o' steamin' plastic, plummeting to earth. Will it land in some rich gringo's garden, or..?

Not. Fortunately, the balloon had not risen too high. It fell back to the fútbol field where one of the ambient gangs of young boys rushed to play with the flames and investigate the remnants of the fiery crash.

Meanwhile, other children assist with a launch of another grownup team's balloon, while still others...

Work on their own creation, perhaps dreaming of days to come when they will assemble...

Something grand of their own. It could be a weird character from a video game, or...

A character from another video game. Or, moving on to the real, as opposed to virtual, world, perhaps...

They will put together something that resembles their favorite luche libre wrestler. They might have higher aspirations, though, and taking their cue from mathematics they might create...

A polyhedron...But that might not be enough to satisfy the questing young mind. With the help of others now, the ambitious student might construct --

A dodecahedron! By this time, though, the young one may have lost faith in the material world and be reaching for something in the spiritual dimension, and so she sees--

A cross rising triumphant out of a cloudy and troubled sky...Or maybe not. Assuming the mantle of omnipotence himself, the now older young person could possibly even labor to construct...

A vessel that could hold his proxy self--a wee mousey passenger would fit (with parachute of course)...

Moving on: Young adults at this shindig, meanwhile, take selfies (memorializing their place in front of the beautiful globo while ignoring the crew frantically trying to launch it), or...