Let's Go Fly a Kite!

So, a crazy thing about North Dakota- it is windy. I mean, really windy, exceptionally windy, egregiously windy. So, when I saw kites on sale, it was a no-brainer. Of course one should own kites if one lives in North Dakota. You can fly them year-round.... except when it is 60 below.... or when those crazy electrical storms happen. Didn't Benjamin Franklin try that once? Something about discovering electricity?

Anyway, the point is we had kites. We met some friends at a park and had a blast. I chose the park, but I had forgotten how many stately trees the park had.... and also that the park abutted several private backyards with high fences... These conditions made for some interesting kite flying.

Benjamin managed to both get his kite treed and crash land it in someone's backyard. Luckily, these particular someones came out to do yard-work shortly after the crash. In typical polite North Dakota fashion, they carefully retrieved the kite, untangled the string from their bushes, and handed it back without a word of complaint. I love North Dakotans.

Since my boys are, well, boys, I should have anticipated that they could make even kite-flying a violent and competitive event. For some reason, I envision flying a kite as this peaceful, even serene activity, during which one gazes up at the heavens with only the wind whistling in your ears and ponders the mysteries of life. Instead, the intense winds whipped the kites around so fast that you really had to be on top of your game if you wanted to keep it in the air. Also, you had to avoid your brother's kite which was purposefully trying to knock yours out of the air.

These "kite wars" resulted in some kite injuries. I patched them with duct tape, what else? They are still going strong. That day at the park was pure joy. I had the "Let's Go Fly a Kite" song running through my head, I was with a good friend and my boys were delighted at the spectacle of those kites. As I look at the pictures, I feel like one of those kites. My little boys sometimes send me soaring with joy, they sometimes have me tied in knots, or treed. They sometimes cause me to crash-land, sobbing in a neighbor's or a friend's yard because syrup-all-over-the-carpet?!?! Really?!? or What do you mean you "accidentally" knocked your chair over, leaving a hole in your wooden door and your finger is now stuck in that hole? These boys are crazy, but they also keep me grounded, tied to something that I love more than I thought I was capable of loving. They remind me, with gentle or not-so-gentle tugs when my mind and heart stray to come back, to be here, with them. The little guys that I love today will be different little people tomorrow. Life is fleeting, the winds of change are blowing, let's go fly a kite today.