Today is May 5th, which means that many of my fellow Americans are celebrating Cinco de Mayo.  Really, I think Cinco de Mayo in America is just an excuse to drink margaritas, since it’s not really an American holiday.  In Germany this year, it’s also a holiday.  Today is Ascension Day, which is a religious holiday typically celebrated the fortieth day of Easter.  Not being particularly religious or Catholic, this holiday means nothing to me.  I suspect it means nothing to a lot of Germans, either, other than it means they get to take the day off work.

We have beautiful weather today and I wish Bill were at home.  Today would be a good day for one of our “field trips” around the area.  I’m hoping the nice weather continues this weekend because I am definitely ready to do something fun.

This morning, I think I spotted some folks having fun.  As I was walking Zane and Arran, I noticed a big hot air balloon drifting across the horizon.  I think I may have seen this particular balloon before. Last time we lived in Germany, I got a shot of it coasting over our backyard.

From the summer of 2009…

I got a few shots of a similar balloon this morning…  I don’t know if it’s the same one as the one pictured above, but it sure looks like it could have been.  And what a wonderful day to take a balloon ride.  I wish I’d had my digital camera, so I could have gotten a closeup.

I don’t think I caught the balloon in this photo.  I tried, though.

Canola is everywhere this time of year!  

I’m really glad to live in such a beautiful area.  No more views of I-35 for me!  It’s hard to believe that a week ago, we had snow.