it dawned on me, while talking to hogan in the grand rapids airport, awaiting our return flight and playing brain age, that i have recently been on a reading rampage (partially the fault of christmas gifts received). i was discussing the latest book, which i was sure to finish on the flight back, when toni (my wife) interjected that she thought i must be reading for a balloon launch. did you have those? a reading contest in elementary school? i did. we had a reading contest where you’d fill out a card for every book you’d read. it would include your name and your school and then your teacher would insert the card into a helium filled balloon. we would then walk out onto the football field holding all of our balloons, each representative of a book we’d read. my picture appeared in the texarkana gazette (locale paper) holding my balloons, wearing my “super reader” tshirt. i had a lot of balloons. i tied with a classmate named stephanie gordon. or maybe she beat me. yeah, she probably won. it was close though. anyway, we’d then release our balloons and watch as they flew away. people would call into the school saying our balloon landed in their yard or on their car, which was cool. i’m pretty sure these balloons were not biodegradable. but it was the 80s and who knew…
if anyone has read any of the above books and has further reading suggestions for me, let me know.