Go fly a kite

What is it about flying a a kite that is so enchanting?  The kids and I went to the mountains this weekend to hang out with my folks.  We originally had planned to go skiing again, but glorious weather does not make for glorious skiing, so instead we found activities to do near home, one of which was pulling out a kite from the back of the toy cabinet.  For once the day had just the right amount of wind, and the kite jumped and pulled immediately into the air, riding the breeze before an advancing snow storm.  This kite is simple and easy -- a multi-colored parafoil with twenty-foot streamers in every color behind it.  Sam soon had it flying high, looping and dodging with each shifting gust.  Everyone in the park stopped and watched: toddlers pointed and practiced saying "kite"; teenagers in angst looked up and smiled; and passersby stopped to ask where they, too, could purchase a kite.  I sat on the brown grass singing "Let's Go Fly A Kite" to Violet while Sam raced around, letting out ever more string, glorying in having "the highest kite in the world!"  Finally, when it was so high we could barely see it, the wind began slowing, and I could see sheets of snow marching down  the valley, bringing winter back.  I got the task of reeling our bird back in, with Sam offering encouragements like "We're doing a great job.  See, Mom, this doesn't take too long!"  When, at last, we were back on earth, we strolled between snow flakes back to the house where hot chocolate waited.