Or I could spend the time flying kites with my eight year old son. We took the kites to the neighborhood park, with a backpack of water bottles (it was pushing eighty), kite alteration materials (string, surveyor's ribbon for ad hoc tails, etc.) and his idea of snacks - a few tootsie rolls. We chattered the whole way there, each carrying a kite.
We rigged them up and got the Cat and Mouse to fly right away. I put ribbons on both sides of the mouse so it wouldn't spin rapidly, like it did for the maiden flight, tearing the mouse from it's twisted string. There is a cheese section, too, but we left it at home. See the whole kite here - go to the bottom of the web page for the kites.
The Ram took a lot more work, and was only successful after I figured out how to yoke the cross spar bending it into a tense bow. My son held the kite and tossed it up when we got a little wind. Neither stayed up long, but it was fun to put them up. We chattered the whole way back, each carrying a kite.All during the week long business trip, every time I felt chagrined at how dirty my car was, I thought, "My kids have good friends who live on a dirt road," and "I had a choice between a clean car and flying kites with my youngest. "
No contest.
A week later and my car is STILL dirty, because there were other things to do with my family... And I started another watercolor for a project - the third in a series of illustrations for a book...
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