GO FLY A KITE

  Me flying my kite

Recently on vacation my husband and I decided we should go fly a kite. I had not flown a kite since I was probably 10-years-old. It was a while for him too. We were on the Oregon coast and the conditions were perfect to fly a kite on the sandy beach. We went to a kite store and saw many different types of kites. I wanted a big colorful kite that would almost pick me up with it. I wanted all kinds of tails coming out everywhere and some kind of neat theme…like a big cat; no wait, a dragon; no wait, a butterfly; no wait… He wanted a plain old kite that looked like a kite. Come on honey, lets be a little more imaginative. His excuse was it had to fit in the suitcase. Oh, okay, so we will buy a smaller one. (Frown) So I looked all around the kite store at all the great kites I wanted but could not have. Then I saw it. It was colorful, had tails, and did not look like the average kite. This was perfect. Oh boy! We bought it and put it in the trunk for when we would have the opportunity to fly it.

We drove down to an area in southern Oregon which had a great beach. Unfortunately, it was too windy. It would destroy my pretty kite. Darn! Have to wait. We drove further north and found another area with another great beach. It was still windy, but we were willing to give it a go. We went back to the car to take the kite out of the plastic package. They have these metal clasps to connect the kite and the string now. Such modern technology since I was a kid. We just used a lot of knots and hoped for the best. Some kites were lost, while some survived the flights. Our kite was ready to put up in the air and go.

We had to walk down to the beach area. It was a perfect place to fly a kite. There was only one thing I would have wanted and that would have been warmer temperatures. The wind was cold! We both had winter coats on. But we were determined to go fly our kite. We made it to “the spot” on the beach we would put the kite up in the blue sky. My husband was the string holder and I was the one to hoist it up to let the wind grab it. It went up in one try. Yeah! There was our kite. Going higher and higher into the cold blue sky. How pretty it was with its colorful tails flapping in the breeze. He let it go up and up. We just stood there and watched. How relaxing. Then it started to turn one way, then the other, and then…oh no! Crash! I ran to my poor kite and saw it was okay. I took it back in my hands and gave it a good UP so it could catch the wind one more time. There it went again. Yeah! It went higher and higher.

This lasted for quite some time. We both stared at the kite and watched how it flapped in the breeze. How light and peaceful it looked up in the blue sky. I was wondering why I have not done this until now. This was so relaxing and such an inexpensive thing to do. As adults I think we lose too much of our childhood which should be kept and treasured. Life is already too stressful on a day to day basis. We need to get back to the basic things we did as children. So I recommend everybody should take the advice from the movie Mary Poppins and go fly a kite. You will see how relaxing it really is. I can’t wait to put my kite up in the air again.