Up, Up and Away

Last night I had a dream of freedom. I can't remember the images, but the soundtrack of my dream was the Fifth Dimension's song Up, Up and Away. The opening lyric is "Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?" The song was released in 1967, the year of my graduation from high school. It was written by Jimmy Webb, won 4 Grammys, was the record and song of the year.

Up, Up and Away is connected to a joyful time of my life. It symbolizes for me the freedom of hot air ballooning, floating free, without a care. I am now at a transition in my life without a job, floating free, almost done packing my house, ready to head off to Portland, Oregon, soaring to new places, looking down on my life as if from a balloon, looking up to new possibilities that lie ahead. Music has a special way of capturing moments and feelings of your life like nothing else.

* On the morning I was ready to drive to Portland from Albany, Oregon to my new house I looked up and saw a hot air balloon floating overhead.