Go Fly a Kite

Juergen pointed out to Brian that when guests tell him to go fly a kite, they are not necessarily meant to be taken literally...

But we have a long standing tradition of flying kites on the lawn around the end of August. One of my favourites was a hugely long red 'dragon' kite we had for years. This week, Brian opted for the traditional kite. Once he had it up there in the jet stream, (well, it looked almost high enough to be there!) it didn't take a lot of energy to keep it flying. He and Corrie settled in to enjoy watching it fly against the beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

The book Corrie set aside for the occasion? Fittingly enough, she's reading The Kite Runner.

David unfolded a different style, which required a little more interaction to keep flying. There was a lot of preparation, and then concentration to keep it airborne. This style really wants a little more wind -- and a little more consistent wind -- and it can't be flown as high so it is subject to interestingly changing air flow.

Brian pointed out that, with both kites up there, you could see the difference in the wind. When the high kite was flying strongly, the wind often dropped right away at ground level, leaving David working very hard to keep his aloft.

Victoria and Matthew came out to join them with kites of their own at Longside cottage, and the sky was very colourful!