Kite Weather

Wednesday this week was Tony's birthday. After a game of phone-tag, we were able to talk for a brief moment. As the call was wrapping up I started to feel a little guilty: Tony was house-sitting and injured-dog-sitting for a buddy in their "big city"---Lake Charles---while Corrie and I were headed out to the beach in the middle of the day for a true Spring Break afternoon.

We were bringing a volleyball, a pre-made gin and tonic that finished both our Beefeater and our limes, and a brand new kite we'd just purchased at the local grocers.

After some exciting if creaky peppering, we relaxed on the beach blanket.

Kite time.

After fighting with the package, I was excited to see "constructing" the kite meant inserting two tiny bars of metal into the center, thereby creating the kite shape, and then removing the rubber band from the tail and letting it unfurl.

As I sat there, on the beach blanket, the wind wanted the kite and the kite wanted the wind. In another second I attached the string, gave Corrie the holder after letting some slack go, and tossed the kite up.

Just sitting on the beach, I launched a kite. Fan-freaking-tastic.

It soared, it bobbed, it confused passing-by gulls. We were one for as long as it took for my back to get broiled in the sun.

After passing the kite back and forth a few times, I eventually reeled it in. I did that by sitting back down on the blanket and slowly pulling in the string. I caught the damn thing easily.

I caught it while sitting on the blanket.

Pretty soon after the wind shifted slightly and began to kick up sand. This is unpleasant and occurs after a certain time each day (it seems). We packed it in then and headed home, our heads full of ideas for kite powered turbine technology.


Back in 2011 before moving back to California, I was able to visit Corrie's family's farm in the panhandle region of Texas, and on that trip I purchased a kite. If you read through that post you can see a comment about the kite purchase. In summary:

Me: (Having trouble with the string)
Relative that shall remain unnamed: "Well, don't you feel silly spending those three dollars?"
Me: (full of sincerity) "Are you kidding? That was the best three bucks I ever spent!"
Rtsru: (stinkeye directed at yours truly)