Kites on Ice

This is an amazing video!  I've seen quad line kites, but I've never flown one.  Quad line kites have four (quad) lines attached to them, on the top and bottom of the right and left sides.  They attach to handles like so:

The beauty of quad line kites is that they can hover, back up, spin in place, and do other amazing tricks.  If kites were birds, they'd be the hummingbirds of the species.  Very expensive hummingbirds.

I never would have thought to combine kites and skating.  This couple makes it look so effortless.  If I could stand up on ice skates, I'm sure I'd end up tangled in the lines, the personification of Charlie Brown's kite-eating tree.



Go Fly a Kite? OK!

As the URL for my blog indicates, another interest I have is flying kites. Generally, I prefer dual line stunt kites, but I recently purchased what's called a parafoil kite.  It's a single line kite, so I can't wait to try it out.

Parafoil Kite

I first became interested in this hobby while exiled to the Great White North, aka Michigan, where it was easy to find wide open spaces with what's called “clean air”, unobstructed by hills and buildings. The downside was a relatively short season – you see, a key requirement to flying kites is wind – which is also found in the term “wind chill.” Michigan also had lots of that. I never found flying kites in gloves and woolen hats all that enjoyable.

Since relocating to Tennessee, I haven't gone out as much as I'd like. While there's less times of the year affected by wind chill, as the kids got older and more involved in school activities, it's almost like waiting for a nine planet convergence, so to speak - when there is enough wind, the temperature is warm enough, there aren't any school activities, I'm off work, and the kite/s is/are in working condition. Plus, I have to search more for clean air. Hills and trees cause turbulent (dirty) air. There's an abundance of both in this area.

As the kids go off to college, that will take care of part of the equation – no extra-curricular activities that we're committed to regularly attend. I've got the new parafoil – it's never been out of its pouch, so it better be in good condition. I'm only working one job now, so I've got more free time.

Now, if the weather would just cooperate! Call me a cream puff, but as much as I dislike wind chill, I also dislike extreme amounts of heat about as much. We haven't been as scorched as Texas and Oklahoma – our hot streak hasn't been in triple digits – and we've gotten some (not a lot more) rain, but 95+ degrees is still hot -- oh, wait, we're having a cool spell. It's only going to be 92 this weekend.

As an addendum, probably the last time I flew my kites was during a visit to Oklahoma. No lack of wind, that's for sure. I remember breaking the spine of one kite because the wind was too strong.