Sunday, June 2, 2013

Kite flying in the 21st century




You don't see this too much anymore.  What happened to all the kite enthusiasts?  Tired of being made fun of?  Is there some private underground kite-loving society that I'm not aware of?  I hope not, they can't do it there.

It's no secret that most children these days are overweight.  They don't seem too interested in kites.  They like television and ice cream sandwiches.  Try asking your child if he or she would like to build and subsequently fly a kite.  You'll probably get one of three responses.

1) "What's a kite?"

2) "You mean for FREE?"

3) "Dad, why are you so gay?"


(Here is an example of a child.)




So as usual, forget about kids.  They ain't no help.

*CONVERSELY*

Adults both young and old are always out there DOING things.  Golf!  Swimming!  Hiking!  Rock climbing!  Hunting!  Fishing!  Parading!

So how come no KITING?

I think it's because you can't really WIN at kiting.  If you are an active, healthy adult, you want to COMPETE.  Golfers keep a rigid score card to track their progress.  Hunters aren't just out there for the fresh air, they want to wind up shooting SOME kind of animal, person, or thing.  Surfboarders try to not fall in.  Marathon runners want to finish the race.  Amateur helicopter pilots are determined to somehow survive.

But what's the goal when you fly a kite?  "It was up there for AWHILE.  Pretty good I guess."  You can't measure how high it goes.  There's no calculable degree of EFFICIENCY.  You just want to see it looking good in the air.  It's sort of like watching a beautiful sunset, very peaceful.  Except you're not rooting for your kite to disappear beyond the horizon.  Imagine if it did, though, whoa.  What a long string.  If someone ever pulls that off I will declare that person the "winner" of kite flying.










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