It’s not every day that you wake up to find a hot-air balloon in your front yard.

But it might happen today.

The morning surprise is just one of the many things that makes living in the Miss-Lou special. And it’s perhaps one of the neatest.

Only two other Mississippi towns have races that draw a collection of pilots — Canton and Greenville. And we are, of course, biased toward ours.

But balloons don’t fly themselves, and this weekend wouldn’t happen without a long list of key people.

All too often, thank yous come after the event, but this year, we’d like to reverse that order.

Work on this year’s balloon race began last year. The race committee has, no doubt, expended countless hours of work contacting pilots, bands, vendors, artists and more.

Local balloon sponsors have already forked over money to make sure things fly.

And volunteer crews will likely be up and moving before this newspaper hits the streets.

Our entire community owes a grand thank you to every balloon race volunteer, but even more important than the people behind the scenes are the people who’ve yet to lift a finger.

That’s probably you.

Balloon race doesn’t fly without local residents. If no one gets out and attends the festival the work of many is for naught.

So get out and enjoy yourself this weekend. Keep your eyes to the sky and realize that your town is very special.