The Art of the Kite.

 I'll just bet that most folks don't realize that April is National Kite Flying Month.  This is the time of year that has been set aside for loyal kite flying kids and adults that what to enjoy the first breath of Spring and the warming breeze to loft their flying creations.  April is when the Earth begins waking and taking that first stretch into full fledged Spring.  

Although April is the official Kite Flying Month, depending upon where you live will determine the reality of your kite flying abilities.  Here in Northern New Hampshire the winter weather tends to hold out through the month of April and we'll have to wait for May to come around in order to push our Dragons, and Phoenix's into the heavens for all to see.  In New Hampshire during the month of May, Mother Nature opens her eyes and looks upon her inhabitants and either blesses them with good kite flying weather, or coldly destroys all hope of spreading visions of the mythological creature kites.

When I was a young'un,  my Dad taught me how to make a kite using an old newspaper, a few sticks of Balsa wood, some string, and a dab of glue.  Usually these creations flew better than the store bought kind, and if you were creative enough you could make them look very mythological on your very own.  Creation at its Springiest.  

The older kids would deck their kites out with a steering mechanism and wax up their strings to do, "Battle".  Kite battling became a serious competitive sport.  The idea was to either crash your kite into the opponents kite causing a catastrophic malfunction, usually ending in the demise of both kites, or do fly buys with sufficient enough force as to cut the string of the opposing kite.  This got sneaky.  Some of the more disreputable flyers would line their strings with fishing like, pieces of wire, and or little tiny sharp things that would make their string into a saw or knife.  Winner take all.  

Some of the more ingenious kids in the neighborhood would figure out how to turn their kites into bombers and attach water balloons to them and drop them on poor unsuspecting viewers on the grass below.  This was before the days of paint balls and practiced urban warfare.  

Kite dog fights and bombing missions would last all summer until the Fall came and the air became cold and forbidding.  In Montana when the air gets cold all you can hear is teeth chattering and the shivering of birds.  This is the first sign that they will be escaping South for the winter. 

So, whether you start flying in April, or May.  The sky is the limit of what you can do with a really well made kite.  No pun intended.

Peace and Balance,

John