Kite

This weeks word is another that has brought up memories that I figure were gone forever. It is amazing the effect some of these remembrances have had on me, and also on Jean. Having never been a real talkative guy, these stories I have written has changed both of us and has made our relationship much, much stronger.

Well, enough of that, and on to this weeks word which is kite. Flying a kite brings back two memories. The first one, as a kid of 10 or 11, trying my best to get a kite up in the air, and having no success. I would run with that kite, playing out a little line at a time and be so disappointed when it came crashing to the ground. I never did get that kite to fly, and only later did I learn that the tail was all wrong.

When I was 14 or 15, I would go by Watson's pharmacy, pay my 89 cents, and get a kite with 3 five hundred foot rolls of string. I would then make a tail out of an old sheet by tearing it into thin strips, and attach it to the kite that I had just put together. Then I would head to the front yard of Rhea school, which had just recently been built, and there was not a tree in sight. It was an extremely easy matter to get my kite up in the air! All I had to do was to play out the string while riding my motorcycle up the road in front of the school. Usually it only took one trip, and the kite was in the air. After getting the kite up 500 feet, then the second roll of string was tied on, and after 1000 feet then the third roll was attached. I can tell you this.....fifteen hundred feet away a piece of material 2 feet by 3 feet looks mighty small.

Somewhere around 38 or 39 years ago, about this time of year, I had an absolute ball flying kites. It was good, cheap, clean fun, and a time of my life that I am glad I re-remembered!