Go Fly a Kyte
AJ Robinson

The biggest and nicest park in Oak Bluffs, and always has been, was Ocean Park. A great sea of green, it was the place where the band played on Sunday nights, where fireworks got shot off, where boats were sailed in the cement pond, and where you could always go fly a kite. As its name implies, it's near the ocean. So, it nearly always has a nice breeze blowing.

It wasn't the first place I flew a kite. No, that honor goes to the little hill that overlooks Sunset Lake. It too was a broad, open area; and it was much safer: no traffic, and being a hill meant it usually had a great wind blowing across it.

But, Ocean Park was the place the town decided to hold the first ever Kite Festival. Being so large and open, and centrally located, with good parking - it was the perfect spot. When I heard about it, I had to wonder: what are they planning to do at the festival? I'd been to the West Tisbury Agricultural Fair, and that had games, food, rides, and so forth. So, would the Kite Festival be like that?

We headed on down there with one of my kites, and I got quite the eyeful, as we approached. All kinds of kites - big, small, long, colorful, dragon-shaped, and on and on - peppered the sky. I was so used to fishing; I couldn't help but wonder who was controlling who? Were the people in control of the kites, or did the kites master people? In fishing, it's the person on top who controls. And, as I stood there looking over the park, the kites looked like the fishermen, and the people the bait on the hooks. Oh well, who was I to question the dynamics of the human-kite relationship?

I sent my kite aloft, and watched as it climbed high into the sky, until it was little more than a dot set against the clear blue sky. As I stood there, watching the others fly theirs, I started to wonder: was anything special going to happen? Were they going to have contests to see who could get their kite highest, or who could make theirs do all sorts of tricks? And then - it happened, my kite came plunging earthward. Normally, the park was so open that I could easily start running and get it to recover, but not this day.

Wham!

It slammed into the ground clear across the park, and I slowly began to wind up my string. It took a while, but I finally got across to the road where my kite lay. Fortunately, it lay on the sidewalk beyond the road, so it hadn't gotten run over. Unfortunately, another kite enthusiast had gotten their line entangled in mine. I had to wonder, was this going to be like trying to untying the Gordian Knott? It took a while, but we got untangled, and once more sent our kites skyward.

Later that day, I learned about the awards that had been given out - simple little ribbons, as I recall. They had some funny ones:

Biggest Kite

Highest Flying Kite

Biggest Ball of String

Smallest Kite

Most Visits to the Kite Hospital, and so on and so forth.

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