At work today, a tiny parachute drifted down from the sky into one of the horse’s paddocks. I was standing clear across the property when I saw it drift quietly out of the clouds, past the eucalyptus grove and over the barn.

When I walked back to retrieve it, one of the ponies let me know right where it landed, poor guy. A silver Dora the Explorer balloon had touched down in his paddock, and was now trapped in a puddle, shuddering in the breeze. This isn’t a regular occurrence, most ponies don’t much expect gifts from the sky landing in their backyard on a rainy day. I walked in a pulled it out. Pony meltdown averted.

There was a soggy note tied at the end of the balloon’s long ribbon. I pulled it out of the note and spread it out on a blanket to dry.

My spanish isn’t great and the writing was hard to read, written in a faint pencil and soaking wet, but here’s my best translation of what the note on the balloon said.

This message
I send deep into the sky for god
hoping for a day
when my husband is back
with us forever
with my family

I think the balloon had sailed in from the cemetary, just down the road. Today’s date was written on the top. I’ll take it back in the morning I guess, and maybe walk up to the top of the hill, and see if I can get it to sail back into a breeze.