What’s wrong with this picture?

hot air balloon amish farmI took this photo of a farm in Lancaster County a couple days ago. At first glance, it seems like a normal farm–you’ve got a barn, silo, picket fence…but something seems a bit off here. Hmm. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Your ideas (or captions) on what’s going on in this photo are welcome.

In other news, we got in a Life on the Farm rematch last night at an Amish farming friend’s home.

Our previous game had ended in a 68-68 cow tie between me and my friend’s 5th grader. He delivered the coup de grace, however, by accidentally–or is that “accidentally”–knocking a full glass of water over into my lap.  The table roared with laughter, and yes that included me.  Luckily I had a spare change of pants in the truck.

I’m heading home to NC today and looking forward to plugging back in, so to speak.

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    41 Comments

    1. Theresa

      What is the hot air balloon doing there?

    2. Peggy

      Hot air balloon

      Guess it landing in a near by field.

    3. Roberta Klooster

      Hot air balloon

      I second Peggy’s guess.

    4. Robin

      In the news: The proposed Farm-Travel Co-op met with failure today when they were informed by the local fire department that methane balloons were a very bad idea.

      1. Lisa Woolever

        Ballon next to Barn

        Checking out a new source of Green Fuel 😉

    5. John

      Starting to heat up for the fall mating season

      It’s a Hot Bed Room

    6. Looks out of it’s element:)

      Just got back from Lancaster County and had a wonderful time. What beautiful country and incredible food:) Great inspiration to write my next three books!

    7. Robin Miller

      Caption ...

      But Mr. Wizard,this isn’t Kansas … it’s even better!!

    8. hot air balloons

      When I lived in Maine, one of our village residents kept a hot air balloon which was great fun. Eventually, everyone in the village got a ride in the balloon, from grandchildren barely able to peep out of the basket, up to stout little grandmothers who gamely climbed over the wicker sides, aided by hefty farmers’ sons. One of the fun things about a balloon is that you never quite know where you will land! Harvested fields are a good choice when it is time to come down. I think the most fun is to be in the chase vehicle, with the spotter, trying to figure out the ordnance maps for the shortcuts through the farm fields.

    9. Lee Ann

      That balloon had to have brought alot of attention. Hopefully the balloon owner gave the family members there rides. Guess they wanted to drop in and buy some of the wonderful Amish baked goods! hahaha

    10. Sharon

      Hot Air Balloon

      YEP, looks like a hot air balloon landed in the ideal place to be!! Can you imagine the farmer’s look on his face? Or a cow’s reaction?? ha…
      Sharon

    11. Leon A. Hadden

      What is wrong with picture photo?

      Just another non-gasoline way of transportation!!!

    12. Diane Paulson

      Normal Stuff

      So the Amish are allowed to ride in hot air balloons. Really. It’s allowed.

    13. Osiah Horst

      Horseless Carriage!

      For a people who do not drive motorized vehicles or fly in airplanes, this will turn out to be a new way of transportation. Some of the roads in Lancaster County or getting too busy for horse and buggy, so a hot air balloon will soon be an alternative way to travel. I assume this colourful balloon belongs to a balloon salesman so my advice to him would be to offer something in a more modest colour if he expects his sales to take off.

    14. Osiah Horst

      Nothing's Wrong!

      Actually, considering my previous post, nothing is wrong except the colour of the balloon!

    15. Bridget

      Yes, the dawdy haus is coming along nicely....

      A month or so ago, my husband and I went up in a hot air balloon from Bird-in-Hand. We landed on an Amish farm (the second we requested permission at), and the whole family came out to check the balloon out. Of course the little kids all had to see in the basket, and the mother told me every time they see a balloon, they’re sure it’s going to land on their farm. This time they were right! The father asked one little boy if he’d want to go up in a balloon — he solemnly shook his head no, no, no.

    16. Shawn

      Better than Kansas!

      I second Robin Miller’s comment! 🙂

      1. Robin Miller

        Yes Shawn, I’d pick beautiful Lancaster Co. any day over Kansas … we plan to retire there!!

    17. kristin jager

      What's uplifting at the Amish Farm??

      Noticed it right away..A Hot air balloon on an Amish Farm??? That is very funny, indeed. A nice way to make extra money…And, it does not use electricity!!

    18. Alice Mary

      Just a lot of hot air!

      Actually, the balloon doesn’t look that out of place to me.

      Where I’ve lived in both Will County and McHenry County, IL, (still some farmland around here), there’ve been hot air balloons to watch for/chase (from a nearby small airport, or a “Balloon Port” one town over).

      When we first moved into our new house (22 years ago) which has two large skylights in the master bath, my husband and I were awakened by a LOUD “whooshing” sound one Sunday morning. It sounded like it was overhead—we walked into the bathroom to see (quite clearly) people looking down at us through the skylight! (Luckily, we were clothed!) It then proceeded to land across the street which was then an empty lot. We still see a few balloons, though nowhere near as many as before the “economic downturn.” Someone I worked with owned a hot air balloon and entered competitions, too.

    19. Char

      “Houston, we’ve got a problem.”

    20. Lois Morgan

      All in the Name of Progress in Reading

      Several years go now, I was the Executive Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Society in Idaho and our yearly Read – a Thon was sorely in need of a great first prize for outstanding reading by children . I decided on a ride in a hot air balloon, so the morning of the flight came and I went to witness the takeoff with the little girl winner. The pilot talked me into flying with them, and the resulting ride was the most beautiful, scariest thing I have ever done. My frantic husband was on his own chase car mission and sternly told me afterward I was never to do that again. I haven’t.

    21. Hot Air Balloon

      What a great way to drop in unexpectedly on your neighbors.
      Hope it didn’t spook the horses.

    22. edith

      travel

      A way to see from high up but not much use maby be lots of clean fun!!!!!!!!!!!

    23. Forest

      OK Erik, I give up. Does it use a two horse or a four horse hitch?

    24. Mary in Michigan

      Y'ALL MISSED IT......

      It’s not the hot air balloon, that’s just a distraction that Erik airbrushed in to fool all of us – it’s the couple of stalks of corn in the lower left corner… Why, you ask? Because it invites too many English to their farm. What you don’t see is the sign out by the road that says, “Corn Maze for Blondes”!!! 🙂 (okay – don’t throw eggs – I is just joking) Mary B.

      1. Mary B, don’t worry I will not throw eggs, in fact I heard a variation of the same joke from an Amish friend just a couple days ago.

        You see whenever I visit Lancaster County, I get hit with Polish jokes (the Polish coffee mug, proudly(?) owned by one Amish acquaintance, came up again this time), so I guess I feel a special solidarity with all the blondes out there 🙂

        Actually I enjoy a good joke even at my own expense so I’m perfectly fine with the Polish jokes. I just realized I need to start dishing back though–maybe an Amish jokes thread would be in order so I have some ammo for my next visit 🙂

    25. Naomi

      Beans for Saturday dinner so you can… ride your hot air balloon to church on Sunday.

    26. OldKat

      Mrs. OldKat and I were in Albuquerque, NM last weekend for a college football game. We found out as we were leaving that this coming weekend will be the annual hot air balloon festival. When we were young newlyweds and living in West Texas I happened to be in Albuquerque on company business at the same time as the balloon festival. Beautiful, crisp fall weather and a late afternoon sky full of colorful balloons with a backdrop of the Sandia Mountains is not something you are likely forget anytime soon I will assure you. I sure wish our football game had been this coming weekend instead because I always wanted her to get a chance to see all the pretty balloons over Albuquerque, too.

      Years ago there use to be a balloon rally that started at sunrise from a city park in our little town every year on Easter morning. Easter sunrise service was always memorable as you could see the balloons rising above the tree tops as they drifted out of town. It is a really soothing thing to watch them glide silently over the rural countryside. Riding in one over Lancaster County, Pa sounds just wonderful. Think I’ll add that to my to-do list. Maybe Richard will come out and wave to us as we float by!

    27. It Wonders Me

      We have a B&B in a little town called Terre Hill in Lancaster County and often see the hot air balloons. Our guests frequently schedule rides in them – early in the morning or early evening. One of my favorite comments came from an Amish friend, who said, looking up at the balloon, “It wonders me”.

    28. 2whls3spds

      That has to be out near Smoketown…

      Balloon rides are fun. Don’t know about how “green” they are, they use an ungodly amount of LP to fire those things.

      Aaron

    29. Linda Lewis

      Nothing Wrong To Me

      My husband and I just returned from Amish Country, Lancaster County and stayed at the Bird in Hand Family Inn. Balloon rides are offered right across the street from the Inn (quite pricey I might add) and we sat on the lawn in front of our room and watched the balloons on Tuesday evening. They really have nothing to do with the Amish except that there is a farm there and the field where they go up is next door.

    30. Debbie Welsh

      When my girlfriend and I went up to Lancaster County for the day this past summer we went for a buggy ride at Aaron & Jessica’s and our elderly Amish driver told us a lovely story. He said one of the things he wanted to do before he died was take a ride up in one of those balloons because it just looked like fun and he wanted to see what the farmland looked like from up above. Well, as it so happened, his son-in-law and grandson bought a raffle ticket for a charity and won, and the prize was a balloon ride, so for the Amish driver’s birthday they presented him with it, and he said it was one of the best and most beautiful experiences he ever had, and would have been even more so if his wife had still been alive to share it with him.

    31. yonie wondernose

      oversize organic amish tulips

      1. Yonie with the late entry! How do you grow them so big without chemicals?? 😉

    32. Ann

      What's wrong

      Well the balloon is interesting but the what is missing is the overhead power lines. This farm must on a road with a majority of amish homes/farms.

    33. Juanita Cook

      It’s the Hot air balloon of course. And it does look so out of place there…:0)

    34. George

      Another mess you got me into, Ollie!

    35. Diane

      What's wrong with this picture?

      The picture is great….although I did notice the ‘AAP’.

      (Amish Air Plane)