I leave for the Mall this morning, because I am bored, and because yesterday I spent nearly the entire day on the couch avoiding the rain and buying lots of things on the internet. So they are having this kite festival today, as part of the NCBF. I intend to take pictures, but my camera’s battery is dead. I stop first at a roped-off field where two guys are facing off in a trick flying competition. One guy makes his kite walk on the ground – neat! (I could probably do that too, but not on purpose.)
It is a blustery day as it always is when the cherry trees are in bloom, so I plan to walk around a bit, then head inside, maybe watch an IMAX film or something like that. Halfway to the Capitol, I’m watching someone dump their frog-shaped kite into a tree, when I nearly bump into Steven of the alumni club. This is a lucky coincidence, apparently half the young alumni are also here, flying kites with varying levels of success, or watching the others’ triumphs and failures. So instead of going inside I stick it out a bit longer and join the watchers. A bit of the old vicarious thrill takes over as we watch young kids and grown-up kids struggle with kites of all shapes: colored diamonds, boxes, squares, cylinders, an airborne menagerie of dragons, turtles, pteradactyls, insects, a fleet of airplanes, rockets, and even a pirate ship. Wes’ simple black and neon diamond tangles with the nearby box kite and the mighty Superman…at least seven or eight times. Knots ensue.
Soon the wind gets the best of everyone so we head to the cafeteria of the new Native American museum. The food is good but it isn’t cheap. I believe the cashier’s small talk is an unspoken apology for the pricing. She is no doubt accustomed to sudden frowns of tired visitors when the total is announced and wallets are emptied. So we eat our authentic Native American foods and drink our not so authentic Coca Colas, then lunch is over and we part. I return home to reoccupy my couch.
Well, at least I did something this weekend.