Do you like to fly kites?

Question

Places I used To Go, Part II

There was a place of my youth I used to go. A place where nothing else mattered. Never needing anything else to fulfill me. This fulfillment kept my heart sated.

The event was a days effort in preparation. Crab nets to mend. Fishing poles to check. Reels to oil and spool. Kites. Homemade kites bigger than my being. Boxes. Diamonds. Saucers. Dreams of crepe paper with mile long tails. Behemoth wooden clamps contorted into string winders. Colours not even in the rainbow.

And off we went with my father, the maestro, orchestrating every movement. Bait the poles and cast out and wait. No, not waiting. Fishing. The difference is unexplainable.

Each crab net fitted with chicken necks enticing sweet blue crabs from the murky water to the boiling pot to the table.

And all the while, kites. Soaring above, hovering happiness, beaming escapism down on us all. These heavenly days spent well on the Lake Ponchatrain seawall. Where I was alive and living. Where I was a happy boy.

©rad081708

Answer 1

That's a very nice painting of your childhood memory.  

I do like to fly kites.  Mine has a 34 foot wingspan and I get to go up with it.

Answer 2

One line down, one line up. One catching crabs, the other the breeze. Were there lines of communication between you and your Dad at those times? Did this represent what you had to do (fish and wait) as opposed to what you wanted to do (fly free like a kite) Good story. Well told.  

Answer 3

I have not read part one, one is never too old

to fly a kite, My Dad used me for an excuse

I think.........to fly a kite, For whatever the

reason, I am glad he did, it was a time for

him and me, and he mastered the kite of memories.

Thank you for the reminder, your words are lovely.

Answer 4

I was never where you were... I was underneath limbs of  black walnut and magnolia trees. We'd drive down to south Ga. on the weekends and visit relatives. We were a large family and their were plenty of young boys  8 to 13. We would play ball all day long in the shade, with bases that were trash cans, trees, and trunks of cars. We had a Street and Smith magazine that listed every player and we'd all pick from it to be someone famous for an afternoon. We really were the boys of summer but no one knew that but us.

...beautiful piece of scripture dude.

Answer 5

This is absolutely lovely.  Evoking a strong emotional response of recognition from those of us who are becoming long in the tooth, and  wistful desire for those days from those who are not.

Perfect. Don't change a thing.....(missed part I - will look back for it)

I look forward to Part III

Answer 6

Yellow diamonds  marked Puget Sound. We got them free when we went around.

Dad would take us out in the field and we would run with the wind as the tails unfurled.

I was just tiny, I loved it so, but days moved along and South we would go.

The kites are long gone but the memories stain the backs of my eyelids - the threads in my brain.  

Answer 7

I know a couple of boys went there, too!  A beautiful place...

Answer 8

Free as a bird in that ethereal sky.

Answer 9

This is a wonderful remembrance.  Thank you for sharing it.  I can remember flying kites on the beach, running on the sand, watching the kite fly higher and higher.  At the same time, there would be boats and people playing in the ocean.  

Answer 10

Unearths in me emotions of reminiscent bliss...  :)

Answer 11

I loved it when I was younger.

Answer 12

This is wonderful story telling AND wonderful writing. Off to find part I.

Answer 13

A happy childhood is often thought of - as one ages.  It is the time of no concern - unlike the age that nags and says - you MUST do this NOW. Does old age bring on this condition? That one can not relax - as when a child - when nothing seemed to be urgent - except getting home on time. ♥

Answer 14

I did when I was a kid

Answer 15

Make certain that all these stories are copied from this site to your private files. Put them into a separate folder.