Just Some Place

📃 The Kite That Almost Escaped

📅 Posted on:

🏷️Tagged with: journal, 100DaysToOffload, growingup

Growing up, I always loved kite flying season. Not only did it mean that Spring was here, but that Summer was (as Frog would say) just around the corner.

Living just across the street from a cornfield did have its benefits. One of which being that it provided for a most excellent place to go outside and fly a kite.

My friends and I would make judicious use of that field for our kiting excursions - and living in the Midwest provided for plenty of windy days and many opportunities to get lots and lots of elevation for our kites.

I remember one such day, my friend and I were out using a brand new kite he had just picked up. It was your standard delta wing style, I don't remember what design was on it, but that is immaterial at this point.

The string we were using was a ginormous spool of some style of sewing or crocheting thread. Thankfully a very strong string, and ridiculously long.

The wind that day was not vicious, but still a really gusty wind. More than enough to have our kite flying pretty high.

I recall that for some reason my friend had to head inside and had asked that I keep a hold of the kite. You can probably guess where this is heading.

A handful of minutes pass, I'm still letting some string out so the kite can soar higher and higher....when suddenly the spool rips out of my hand.

So, these types of spools aren't really meant for what we are using them for. They kinda flip flop around and are more for - you know - craft type stuff.

There I am, entrusted with my best friends' kite, which has now literally flown away from me. I'm like, "oh crap!". Panic sets in, I take off after the spool, which is being drug along the ground. I almost grab it a couple of times, only to have the thing slip from my not-nearly-strong-enough grasp.

All this time I'm nearly in tears, thinking that I'm going to have to tell my best friend in the whole world that I've let his kite get away from me.

Remember now that we are in a cornfield. Thankfully this field is not currently planted, plus, there are a number of sections that have old - very sturdy - stalk sections and other items that might just possibly be able to snag a line of string.

Which is exactly what happens.

I will never forget my feeling that day, when I was finally able to get that kite brought back under control. Winding that spool back up was certainly a challenge, but I was gracious to have the wing back on the ground.

The more I think about it, I don't believe we ever flew kites again after that.

This is post 83/100 of my #100DaysToOffload posts. You can read the other posts in this series here.