When a Swedish couple hiking in the woods near Lapland found a balloon, they could hae just snagged it as trash and chucked it away. Instead, they read the message attached and decided to post a letter to the children's center in Britian from whence it came.
The children's center just happens to be more than one thousand five hundred kilometers (about nine hundred thirty miles) away. And since children released one hundred balloons in November 2007, this is the first letter sent back to let the kids know how their little floating friends fared.
The balloons were released in honor of opening day at the Old Clee Children's Centre in Grimsby, Lincolnshire on Nov. 17, 2007. It wasn't until Oct. 26 of this year that the Swedish couple were out in the mountains and found it. They sent a letter back to Old Clee with a little story about the sunny day when they discovered the balloon and included pictures of its whereabouts. In exchange, a Swedish-speaking employee of Old Clee has drafted a letter back, including pictures of Grimsby.
It's a sweet little story, but I always wonder what happens to the rest of the balloons in these circumstances. Do they snag on trees and litter the landscape? Or do people pick them up, notice the notes and trash them anyway? Neither one is really palatable if you think about it. I'd hate to think that the environment suffers, but disappointed kids don't make me any happier. What would you do? Do you think most people would send a letter back?
Image/Source: The Local
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