A Chester County high: ‘Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?’
The first weekend of summer presented near-perfect conditions for the 13th annual Chester County Balloon Festival.
The Philadelphia region has had a rough few days. Soaking rains led to destructive flooding in parts of South Jersey. An explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia injured five workers and rattled nearby residents awake to a night sky of scary orange flame.
Who wouldn’t want to get above it all?
Many did just that in western Chester County this weekend — in balloons of spectacular colors drifting against a brilliant blue sky as part of the 13th annual Chester County Balloon Festival, which runs until 7 p.m. today and benefits, among other groups, the Chester County Hero Fund, which helps families of first responders injured or killed in the line of duty.
Inquirer photographer Michael Bryant got up early Sunday to capture the beauty of the morning balloon launch on the last day of the festival in Toughkenamon.
We earned this pretty-near-perfect first weekend of summer, the kind ideal for flying.
As the Fifth Dimension sang so many years ago:
The world’s a nicer place in my beautiful balloon
It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon.