Talk about kites. From the late 1950s
A beautiful sunny breezy day. Pa says "good day to fly a kite". So a pairing up to manufacture said aeronautical machines. 4 teams in all. An adult with a child.
We used to take forever to pick the right sticks, some off the ground from under the old gum. One team "found" some old window beading.
Borrow some string from Nana's trussing supply, or pa's "straight line". Find brown paper bags, to glue together with the flour and water paste - don't forget the salt, it helps stop mould. Add the tail that had flags of scrap from mum's dressmaking efforts.
I reflect that the adults had more fun than their team mate.
Wait for it all to dry in the sun, while we had a roast lunch. Which was inevitably followed by some really slow and noisy content-from-eating naps.
Okay kids, let's go.
Run>>>>>>> let the string out as you run>>>>>>>I said, run>>>>>>>>>faster>>>>>>>>>>>faster.
The "young" uncle got his team's effort aloft. Until.........on 5 acres of paddocks there is one set of power lines...........
The wind disappeared, from both our lungs and the atmosphere.
And it was time for an early bath and teatime.
An excellent night of sleep as I recall.
DEB
