By Edward C. Woodward
If you’re an avid reader, maybe you’re like me: instructions, clothing tags, billboards, anything with words might be worth reading. So although I can fly a kite, I was curious about the instructions that came with the one my son and I flew a few months ago.
Scanning the directions, one bit stood out: don’t fly the kite “within 5 miles of an airport.” I hadn’t considered that when we planned to fly the kite by the water at Davis Islands in Tampa, which would have been by an airport. I’d like to think I would have realized the obvious kite-flying perils had we gone to Davis Islands and not read the instructions. But I’ve had my share of knucklehead moments, best captured by Gary Larson’s Far Side comic where a student at the “Midvale School For The Gifted,” pushes with all his might to open a door that reads “PULL.”
So we changed our plans and went downtown to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, a riverfront swath of green goodness that, counter intuitively, made me notice and admire dense, vertical concrete and steel. Let me get to my point before I lose you. If you haven’t flown a kite in a while, you’re missing out, and Curtis Hixon is a good spot to try, assuming you’ve got game and don’t dive bomb fellow park-goers, which might be a good way to test your nerves if you’re considering pilot lessons.
Because next to being airborne, kite-flying is a simple thrill – the taut line made me feel connected to the climbing, soaring kite, without effort. At its best it felt like a flawless golf swing or an effortless jump shot where the club or basketball are extensions of the body in fluid movement, not awkward separate parts, which, unfortunately, if you’re not a professional, you’re more likely to feel as often with a slice, hook, shank or clank off the rim. I’d write more about my son flying the kite, which was the objective, but he quickly ditched it for something more fascinating: the uber playroom at the Glazer Children’s Museum.
Besides being a solid place to fly a kite, Curtis Hixon has a great playground and fountains. There’s even a hill to roll down like you did when you were a kid. When you might recall flying a kite.
Edward is editor and co-founder of paddleandpath.com, a resource for exploring Florida’s waterways and woods.
