The other day I was pulling up into the driveway when the wind picked up and roared across our yard filled with heavy oaks. There was a sudden snap and a large limb crashed to the grass. Logan and Benjamin in the 4th and 5th grades and Daniel, 3 years old, stopped in surprise. There was a March wind crushing in and cold weather was on the way. I announced that it was kite flying weather!
We ran inside and pulled out a Spiderman kite Clay had poked away for an Easter gift. You can't poke away a kite for a holiday or a rainy day. A kite can only be useful in kite flying weather and that does not come along every day, but if it does, it is likely to be in the spring.
Jumping on the golf cart we zoomed down the street to an open field with no obstructions. The wind continued to toss and turn as I tied the strings together and popped in the plastic spine loosening the line. We made several failed attempts to get Spiderman up and flying, but each time it would lift, the wind would shift, and it took a nose dive. By now an older retired couple had walked out of their house and stopped at the wooden fence to watch our adventure. They cheered us on as we ran from one end to the other.
A jeep then slowed down and a gray-haired man got out. He began walking toward us. I recognized him as the neighbor who lived in the nearby house. Whipping out a pocketknife he went to work correcting my errors in the formation of my kite design. He told us it was his birthday that day and it had been in his childhood the last time he flew a kite, but he thought he might could remember how it went.
He continued to work while the older two boys grabbed handfuls of weeds and had a grass fight. The three-year-old ran around us in circles laughing.
It was a flimsy kite bought for a couple of dollars at a dollar store. It had a small thin red tail dangling from the back. He explained the reason the kite kept spinning was because our tail was not heavy enough for the strong winds. All my life I had thought the tail of a kite was just for show. Something that attracted the eye as the kite whipped and twisted in the higher winds.
Turns out kites and kite tails are a serious business that have a great deal to do with aerodynamics and physics. There are words like lateral length, wingtip to wingtip, and turbulence. And all of this is affected by the length and weight of the kite's tail. It serves to stabilize the kite. There is an actual chart with Beaufort numbers, wind speeds, and ease of launching kites. If the Beaufort number is a 2, light breeze, 4-7mph, this is great for beginners. Apparently, we beginners were in stronger winds.
Based on the articles I looked up it seems we were in a "fresh breeze" from 19-24 mph gusts. We needed a strong tail, and the dollar store plastic did not cut it. After about an hour of running from fence post to fence post getting our kite into the air flying high, then whipping back and forth, then spiraling into the grass, we called it a day.
Our faces were chapped from the wind and a bit stiff from the laughter. The neighbors had enjoyed an unexpected distraction from a mundane weekday afternoon. A man in his sixties got to play hero to three little boys on his birthday. And I learned about the importance of a kite's tail.
It just goes to show you. Like a kite's tail, every person, every part, and every moment has a purpose. Here's to little boys’ laughter, friendly neighbors, and a very windy day!
