HAPPY NEW YEAR--
Geriatric style

Tanglewood (our Florida mobile home/RV community) rocked the new year in with this rousing--well, sort of--launch of a mid-night Sky Lantern.

This one is a commercial contraption consisting of a silk envelope, the large pink balloon, which traps the heat from the small flame being ignited until it is able to launch itself skyward.

The flame is on a little platform centered so it does not ignite the lantern.

It's ascent is remarkable, sputtering a small tail of intentional sparks as it drifts with the gentle night wind and climbs hundreds of feet until it curves upward out of sight.

Our Syracuse friends Dee Weeks, left foreground, and hubby Dick behind her, provided the pyrotechnic excitement while my lady Sue watched, facing the camera on the right.

This was the grand finale after an evening of robust card games while the younger folks blasted themselves into the approaching new year at the facility billiard table while the big screen TV glistened with Time Square's ribaldry.

Moments later we drifted into the night's silence on the walk home.

Slowly, of course.