Go Fly A Kite

Every Easter my siblings and I would receive kites from the Easter Bunny. First thing after dinner we would head to the park four blocks away to assemble and fly them. It was a great park for kites, open with few trees on which to snag the string.

This Easter I treated myself to a new kite, higher quality than the flimsy plastic K-mart kites of my youth. I assembled it over a few days’ time, careful and meticulous with the wingtip nock, standoffs, spars and tail. The tail could make or break the kite’s ability to soar and twirl and dip.

Yesterday I drove to the park of my youth, only to find that it now contained an aquatic center, skate park, soccer fields and baseball fields with nary enough space to gain the speed needed for launch.

I got back in the car, my kite placed carefully on the back seat and drove to find a suitable space. None of the parks would do, but I did find a lovely unplanted field. I didn’t see anyone around and since I would do no harm by merely running across the field and watching my glorious kite lift into the semi cloudy sky on the ample breeze, I figured the owner of the field wouldn’t mind.

I held the spool of string in one hand and my kite in the other. I ran into the wind until I felt a tug on the kite and let it go, moving both hands to the string. I watched the kite soar as I fed the string out. It lifted higher and higher, soon becoming nothing more than a speck in the sky.

I must say I was shocked when the kite seemed to develop a power of its own, or maybe it optimized its hold on the growing wind. The string was fully played out but securely tied to the spool which I gripped tightly in both hands. I was lifted off the ground and raised to the heavens, following the kite across the field and further into the countryside, feet skimming tree tops. Below I saw a patchwork of fields with tiny houses and barns. Cows were slow moving dots on the landscape.

What an amazing experience! I guess at some point, I’ll have to figure out how to get down, but for the moment, I was flying and living my wildest dream.