It was momentarily sunny today, so my friend Jane and I
went kite flying. Kite flying fits neatly
into my idea of exercise. You race around because it’s fun, unlike forcing
yourself to do ten laps on a treadmill or riding a fixed bike. The Weather
Bureau said that winds of 25 – 40 kmh were expected so it sounded promising.
What I didn’t understand was that sometimes it would blow at 25 kmh and at
other times it would be 40.
Our kite - Thanks for the photo Jane!
We have lift off - Another Jane Photo
Incoming -Jane's Photo
Jane’s very expensive kite shot straight up and then
came crashing down, breaking one of its struts.My $10 polyester raptor did a bit better, doing graceful arcs for
at least ten minutes, before it got hopelessly tangled in its own string.After about twenty minutes of unravelling we
had another few moments of glory during which it looked like a real raptor soaring
into a now leaden sky.Then the wind
changed and it too dashed to the ground, but not without twisting multiple times and wrapping itself around
my legs, my camera bag and the cords on the front of my jacket. Fortunately, you don't have to be good at kites to have fun.
The end
It took me a week to untangle this
Did you know that more adults than children fly kites? Kites aren't just beautiful toys. They have a long history and were first used for military purposes. Apart from being important in the development of aviation and by Benjamin Franklin to test his theories about electricity, Marconi used them to transmit the first radio signals. Many Asian countries use them for more spiritual purposes such as sending offerings or prayers up to the heavens. See more facts about kites here oror learn to make the simplest of kites below.
There
are also lots of kite clubs and festivals. Unfortunately, this year’s One Sky One World International Kite Fly for Peace normally held on the second weekend in October, has had to be cancelled
because of COVID 19, but perhaps we’ll have better luck on International Kite Day on January 14th. Click here for other festivals.
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