La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
ONE OF THE KID BROTHER’S favorite expressions is “Oh, go fly a kite!” If you’re not familiar with the expression, it simply means “Leave me alone.” For the last couple of days, I’ve seen a man and woman on the beach with a little girl trying to do as The Kid Brother ordered. I guess it’s not as easy as it sounds.
No simple, one-string kite for this family. They have one that looks like they’re ready to go parasailing. Multiple strings attached to a control bar. An inflatable frame. Enormous. Yesterday at the end of my walk, I saw they were back on the beach. I straddled the wall and watched. For a good long while.
On their first attempt, part of the frame deflated. For the next 15 minutes, I watched the man pump air back into the frame while the woman tried to help it go vertical. Finally, they tried again to get it up, but it only rose 6 feet off the sand before folding in on itself and spinning madly down.
The next 15 minutes were spent untangling the guide wires (strings). And then, when they finally did get it up, it had no staying power. Yes, I know it happens. But I wasn’t going to hang around and wait for it. I would buy a new, more basic kite.
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UNA DE LAS EXPRESIONES FAVORITAS de El Hermanito es “¡Oh, ve a volar una cometa!” Si no está familiarizado con la expresión, simplemente significa “Déjame en paz”. Durante los últimos días, he visto a un hombre y una mujer en la playa con una niña tratando de hacer lo que ordenó El Hermanito. Supongo que no es tan fácil como parece.
No hay cometa simple de una cuerda para esta familia. Tienen uno que parece estar listo para practicar parasailing. Varias cadenas adjuntas a una barra de control. Un marco inflable. Enorme. Ayer, al final de mi caminata, vi que estaban de regreso en la playa. Me senté a horcajadas sobre la pared y miré. Durante un buen rato.
En su primer intento, parte del marco se desinfló. Durante los siguientes 15 minutos, observé al hombre bombear aire hacia el marco mientras la mujer trataba de ayudarlo a ponerse vertical. Finalmente, intentaron volver a levantarlo, pero solo se elevó 6 pies de la arena antes de doblarse sobre sí mismo y girar locamente hacia abajo.
Los siguientes 15 minutos se dedicaron a desenredar los cables guía (cuerdas). Y luego, cuando finalmente lo levantaron, no tenía poder de permanencia. Sí, sé que sucede. Pero no iba a quedarme ahí esperando. Compraría una cometa nueva y más básica.
Sí, sé que no debería, pero me reí.
.
1962. Yours truly flying a basic kite.
1962. Realmente tuyo volando una cometa básica.
As David would say: “Too many moving parts.”
wickedhamster:
The poor child was bored out of her mind. Buy a kite!
I grew up with that expression…….not especially aimed at me but hearing it a lot.
Loved flying a kite! It’s been while……..
Jim:
I haven’t flown a kite for years. I remember the last time I did it thinking, “Well OK, now what?” I suppose that’s why people go with these contraptions they have to control.
Talk about an exercise in futility…
Mary:
And their poor little girl! I’m tempted to go buy them a simply kite.
As with most things, simpler is often better.
Bob:
Especially if they’re doing this to also entertain their little girl!
Yes, sometimes simpler is better!
Debra:
Doesn’t seem like much fun.
looks like a parasailing contraption, not a kite. and yes, it was correct of you to laugh.
anne marie:
I actually laughed out loud. I’m glad they were far away.
I’m with Anne Marie here! If you hadn’t called it a kite, I would’ve thought parasail. I could never fly a kite. Lost interest quickly when I couldn’t get it up.
Deedles:
I wondered if they bought the wrong thing, but it was clearly too weak to hold even itself up!
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Wilma:
I can understand wanting to master the art, but they were there as a family and the little girl was on her own. Nope, not fun.
Both the expression and the basic kite are from simpler times.
Frank:
I saw a flamingo kite that was simple to fly and so realistic in the sky I thought at first it really was a flamingo. So much more fun.
That is a very fancy kite. We had some simple kites when we were kids and couldn’t ever get them airborne. I realize now that it wasn’t windy enough, but we thought we could run a bit and hold up the kite and somehow it would rise in the air. Yes, we were pretty stupid.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
I remember running and running to try to get my kite airborne in dead skies. Yep.
If the kite is tied to the harness, he may be learning to kiteboard, I had a friend in Florida who was very good at that.
David:
Nope it was just a kite to LOOK like a kiteboard kite. But it’s a good thing, he didn’t try to get himself airborne.
My memory is of those paper kites with a balsa wood frame. They came rolled up in a plastic bag and you had to put them together. If you didn’t rip or break it during assembly, you then had to fashion and fasten a fabric tail for stabilization. Then you had to come back outside to watch your dad fly it because you got bored and went inside for a snack.
Walt the Fourth:
That’s exactly how I remember it all. As for that photo of me flying the kite, I’m sure my father took it from me the moment after he took the photo!
I vaguely remember having a kite as a child, but I don’t ever remember it ever being airborne. It seems like conditions have to be just right, like you need not only just enough wind, but also for it to stay consistently windy. And you need a wide enough open space, no trees, no telephone wire, and no other kites in the air. I guess this is why I hardly ever see anyone flying a kite, not now, and not decades ago when I was a child. It’s become fashionable to criticize modern-day children for being more interested in video games than age-old amusements like kite flying, but some of those age-old amusements, like kite flying, are just plain ODD.
Kirk:
We usually see plenty of people flying kits here. This year is an anamoly. But they’re much more interesting looking than the ones I remember — and fly better than the one this family was working with.
Darling Mitchell,
That is not a kite, it is an aeroplane, capable of taking passengers with it, we dare say. We think it very wise that you did not wait to see take off since we are certain that its pilot would have been airborne too.:):)
Jane and Lance:
If it could ever get off the ground, it COULD take someone with it.
Looks like some kind of a stunt kite, maybe? But it’s REALLY big…
Love the old photo!
Steve:
That old photo was one of my father’s slides we had digitized. And, yes, it does look like as stunt kite. The best stunt would be getting it to remain airborn for more than 20 seconds.
this is a very big kite looks a lot like those face mask they sell in pharmacies. Simple kites are better.
larrymuffin:
And I’ve seen one- or two-string kites that are stunning in the sky.