Sunday, November 18, 2007

A Homemade Kite

Lachlan and I made our kite yesterday (well, OK, I made the kite....Lachlan mostly ran around and got more and more excited). It is a paper diamond kite. Pretty standard, actually, at least for the kinds of kites I remember making as a kid.

There were a few last minute details to attend to this morning. We tied on the bed sheet tail and attached the string to the "keel" (the extra string that goes from the top of the kite to the bottom), and then we were off to the beach.

The wind was just about right, it seemed. But down on the flat beach we couldn't get the kite to stay up. The dunes were blocking the breeze. So we climbed to the top of the dunes and let 'er go. Out kite soared up into the sky. Every once in a while we'd have to move backwards or tighten up on the string to keep our beauty flying, but eventually it climbed high enough that we could tie our string down to the walk-over ramp and attend to other pressing matters like building sand castles and just running around. Every now and then we'd see the kite's shadow against the dunes. When we'd look up she was hovering gracefully like a benevolent spirit watching over us.

The next time we go kite flying I'll take my camera and post a picture.

Our latest Newsletter is an article about Blackbeard the pirate and new research that suggests he may have been born in eastern North Carolina. You can read it here.

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