For the first day I wanted to ride the helium balloon parked in Central Park's Cherry Hill. It goes up 300 ft (or 30 stories), but is tethered the entire time, which is a-ok by me. I'm not necessarily scared of heights (I love plane rides), but I'm deathly afraid of falling. When I got there the line wasn't super long and after a couple minutes I learned why.Apparently, the balloon went up a couple times in the morning, but then winds became too strong/unpredictable and so they had to stop. Some people had been on line for four hours just waiting! Of course being the stubborn fool I am, I decided to wait and hope it'd go up again. More people came and went and the lady behind me and I took to talking for a little. After and hour or so she left and I went to sit and read my magazine (I wished I had gone against my judgment and brought a book like I always do). I was determined that I'd go up regardless how long it took.
I sat for about a half hour. I read. I watched the pedi-cabs go by. I watched a bridal party nearby take their pictures and greet the rest of the wedding guests. I aww'ed to myself when a man in a suit passed by with his baby in a stroller. Then I heard the people on line clap and I ran back on line. The crew took the balloon up for a test run to check the wind speeds and the rest of us looked on hoping they'd come back with good news. Btw, can I just say I started having second thoughts when I saw that little basket swaying around the air? It did NOT look as safe as I'd hoped. What if I fell over? What if the wind flipped the basket? Still, I was getting on that balloon no matter what. So I stayed on line and waited some more.
Too bad, the test crew came back and said it'd be at least a couple more hours until they could do anything. Or something like that. Who knows. By that point I was so dizzy and lightheaded I couldn't stand it any longer (dammit, why didn't I stuff my face at lunchtime??). So I called it quits and left.But the day wasn't a total bust and here's why:
-I actually sat down in Central Park. I never sit down in Central Park. I walk the entire length of it many times and never stop and just relax there. Nope, I blaze on to 110 street as if it's some race to get to the train station and wait for the train. So it was nice to sit and read there for once.
-I took a different route to get to the park. Instead of the usual 8th Avenue stroll, I opted for the much more packed 7th Avenue.
-I wore a skirt for the second time that week. That in and of itself is reason to celebrate.
So I went home wondering how on earth am I going to pull this off for 30 more days...