Ah, Go Fly A Kite

I was running on Ocean Beach Park recently when I suddenly came across more resistance than I anticipated.

It wasn’t from a cramp or muscle fatigue, it was as if something was physically holding me back. As it turned out, something was.

I’d run into a kite string, which thankfully didn’t snap. I was able to free myself soon enough, apologize to the girl flying the kite with her father, and run on. I moved a little closer to the shore, but each time I passed the spot I looked up to spot the patch of color against the sky.

So a momentary hindrance on a beach run was probably the reason I found myself buying a kite a week later, then driving immediately to Ocean Beach to try it out.

I hadn’t flown a kite in ages, although I have a few happy memories of them. Some 15 years ago, on a trip to North Carolina, my father rigged a kite with some glow sticks and flew it at night to see if he could get anyone to report a UFO. A few years later, on a youth group outing to Cape Cod, we bought a bunch of dollar store kites and had high-flying duels with them.

 It was a similar kite I ended up purchasing. These are made of a durable fabric or plastic and a crossbar and come with a long spool of twine. The store’s selection included butterflies, turtles, birds of prey, Star Wars characters, and a fight between spaceships and a giant robot. Of course I had to go with that last one.

It took a little practice to get the thing airborne. During the first few tries, it cartwheeled across the sand or took briefly to the air only to crash back down again. But eventually a good breeze took it and it was up on its own, climbing steadily into the sky as I let out more twine.

After awhile, I realized the activity was a bit like fishing. I had a line played out into the sky rather than the water, and I couldn’t eat my catch when I reeled it in, but it was good to be outside with a simple activity to do and some time to think.

Though of course, if a friend or two also decides to pick up a kite, there might be some good old fashioned bird versus robot fights in the sky.

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