This huge red balloon gripped the attention of hundreds of revelers in Dolores Park this afternoon. The hubbub began in the playground, with a bunch of kids chasing the thing around. Then the wind kicked up, sending the crimson orb high into the air, up to the second and third tiers of the park’s southern ridge. Sunbathers, picnickers and dog walkers alike rose to the occasion to prevent the balloon’s escape aufblasbare wasserrutschen from Dolores Park. Each time the wind’s efforts were thwarted, the transfixed throngs cheered the heroic balloon wrangler. This scene was repeated several times over, the cheers growing louder and louder until finally the humungoid red-rubber air-filled globe blew through the trees bordering 20th Street, up against the front windows of the houses across the way, and ultimately around the corner into the J-Church’s dedicated right-of-way around Liberty Hill.

giant red balloon in dolores park, originally uploaded by allanhough.