I didn’t know what to expect. That was the problem. Part of the problem anyway. I’ve never even flown in an airplane and my experiences with amusement park rides have been decidedly mixed.

I was thus not possessed by a ready reserve of experiences to help prepare for being propelled up, up and away straight into the wild blue yonder by nothing but a really large blowtorch and a bag of hot air.

My imagination needed little encouragement to inject some tension into the situation. Standing in a parking lot behind the Blue Sky on the Boulevard, I prepared my internal organs for anything. Exotic pirouettes of the stomach. Pieces of my brain rolling around inside my skull like marbles inside a thick glass jar.

In truth my hot air balloon trip was different. The word I keep wanting to land on is “tranquil.” That sounds about right.

All this happened last October, and Brookhaven’s own Steve Jones (a math teacher at Brookhaven High School) was coming off a career highlight, a first place finish the prior weekend at the annual Natchez hot air balloon race.

He was ready to retire from ballooning, though, with only a few final fun flights planned. I was grateful for the opportunity to photographically document one of those flights.

The big moment came. Liftoff. Rather than careening straight up like some Roman candle, it seemed that the ground dropped out from underneath the balloon, as if the ground were moving and not the balloon.

The city slowly diminished into a collection of rooftops surrounded by the geometry of parking lots and roads, trees filling in all the empty spaces. We quit climbing pretty soon and Brookhaven stretched out below me like a map.

I recount all this primarily as a way to avoid getting to my main point. I risk becoming one of those perennially gabbing motor mouths that crank up a story but immediately then immediately back up to provide all the “background” and never come back around to the original story (in some extreme cases I’ve observed, this backing up for additional context can proceed almost indefinitely).

See, I digress. Again. Let’s not keep putting this off. My main point here today: After two years of living in Brookhaven and working at The Daily Leader, today is my last day at both places.

I’m headed from one “haven” to a new “haven.” Literally. I’m moving this summer to New Haven, Connecticut, where, come August, I’ll be earning a master’s degree from Yale Divinity School.

Back to the balloon. Throughout this last week, my hot air balloon trip has remained a splinter in the front of my memory. That moment of watching the ground slide away from my feet seems the best way I have to describe the emotion of these last days.

The daily trivia and mundane details that quietly come to compose so much of our lives have been what have occupied me. All these typically forgettable moments have been rendered for me with an air of nostalgic poignancy as I perform them for the last (or nearly the last) time.

Simple things. Like visiting the Monticello Street Piggly Wiggly, arriving home only to discover I forgot something and then going to the Highway 51 Piggly Wiggly to avoid broadcasting my oversight (no comment on how many times this may have occurred).

Quite a few last times have elapsed already, and a few big ones loom ahead later today. One of my daily rituals I anticipate won’t be easy to pack away. I’ve arrived at so many places, camera in one hand, notebook in the other and introduced myself as “Caleb from The Daily Leader” so many times I think my tongue has developed muscle memory.

But as of today I get my old last name back. I’m just “Caleb Bedillion” again. That’s mouthful enough, I suppose.

To all those who have known me and worked with me as “Caleb from The Daily Leader” (or maybe just as the “paper boy;” I’ve heard that one a few times), to those that don’t know me at all but have read my news articles and to those who simply offered me hospitality during my stay, let me offer my appreciation.

So many have opened their memories and shared their stories with me, and I’m grateful. I’ve been invited to share many happy moments with people and some sorrowful ones as well. In two years, I’ve learned much. I will take much away with me.

Thank you, all.

Caleb Bedillion is a news reporter for The Daily Leader.