March 30, 2015
Make Lemonade on These Windy Days

Call them what you will, but lately there have been a whole lot of  "kite days" around here.  You know, the kind of day that you have no reason not to head for the open field and unfurl your brand new Hi-Flier.

When I was a youngster, there were two particular joys to discover in the toy aisle of the store:  the big, colorful plastic balls stacked sky high in a bin and the display case filled with kites.  As I recall, the balls never lasted more than a few hours before deflating and losing the appeal.  But a kite, well, that promised endless hours of entertainment for a kid such as me.

Back then kites were a pleasure, and there wasn't much to them.  There was some assembly was required to get your kite ready for flight, though.  The thin sticks and tissue paper parts came wrapped in a compact package that had to be carefully unrolled and and then pieced together.  But it wasn't rocket science and didn't take much to set it up.  The only thing not included, of course, was the all-important tail and for that we usually raided the rag bag for scraps of material to fashion the stabilizer.

There are only three requirements for a successful kite flight:  wind, wide open spaces and a long length of string.  Fortunately where I grew up there was plenty of the first two, and finding string was never a problem.

Like I said before, there's not too much to flying a kite - once it's in the air that is.  The secret is running into the wind and knowing just when to release the string to set the kite to soaring.  And oh what a joy to watch the flight as your flier climbs into the sky overhead, dipping left and right, nodding its approval to those stuck on the ground.

I recall being a little fearful that my kite might loose from its tether and escape into the clouds, but I don't recall ever losing one.  At least not that way. (The sickening crash landing was definitely not a good thing and most often the fragile toy didn't survive.) 

The joy of kite gazing is unequaled and I remember that sometimes I would anchor my high flyer into the ground and lie down in the field gazing up at that little speck in the sky.  I'm sure that I wasn't the only kid who secretly wished that she shimmy up that string and catch a ride on that kite.  I always did have a colorful imagination I guess.  And it took so very little to amuse me.  

Kite flying could be a wonderful past time to share with others, or completely on one's own.  And it was made possible by the ever constant gale force winds on these prairie fields, a .29 toy, a ball of string, and a good old windy day.  It all adds up to a whole lot of enjoyment. I wonder if you can even buy one of those old fangled kites in the stores anymore.

 It's a shame if you can't because it's the only way to fly on a blustery day such as this.