Kites and Memories

As I was thinking of what activity to do for my son Rael and his cousins this weekend, I chanced upon several commercial kites being sold in front of a department store. Then an idea stuck on my mind. Why not take them on a Sunday drive and go flying kites?

Kite flying must be an fun filled activity for a family. To start with, kites should ideally be created from scratch. Build them from raw materials and let the flyer understand how each part connects with another and how they make the kite fly. This will surely make it more fun. So I started with the frame made of light chinese bamboo, measured it meticulously. As I was cutting the paper and getting my fingers glued upon, I stopped, headed to the toy store and brought the commercial kites. What the heck.

The next part in kite flying after securing your kite is finding a perfect or near perfect location. I thought of Manila Bay but thought otherwise as the sea breeze might swallow the kite and snap it from the string. Then there is the Global City at Fort Bonifacio, hmmmm...lots of open space, fair winds present, and it is near restaurants. But as I was passing by UP Diliman at the other end of the metropolis, everything fell right into its place. There are a number of pocket fields set in a nostalgic campus known to us. Spaces vast enough to fly kites. I bet you could land an airplane in one of them. This is the place!

The next day we packed up our kites, brought a cooler filled with drinks and a lot of ice. It was a quick 15 minute drive to the university. The first site of the field exhilirated the exitement of the kids. We parked under a tree in the middle of the field and practically ran to the center. The sun was cooperating, it was hiding in one of the clouds. Around, you could see the sprawling field, rolling and all. It was not green, what would you expect from a hot summer afternoon in the Philippines? But it was perfect for me.

Then the moment of truth came. I, being the eldest male and the one whose idea of kite flying started, was tasked to fly the first piece. I must admit, the 4 boys looked up on me as an idol, somebody who is supposed to know everything in this planet. I must not fail.

The last time I flew a kite was 24 years ago. I remember hopping from rooftop to rooftop among the houses at Gov. Forbes Avenue in the Sta. Cruz district Manila. The roofs in that dense district were layed out side by side collectively forming a virtual field. Back then, we would lace the kites with finely ground glass glued to the string. This would enable our kite to cut the opponent's in a dogfight. We played rough then. And so did everyone else in that community.

Going back to the present time... there I was holding the light nylon string. Fifteen meters across the other side of the string was Gabriel, my nephew, waiting for my cue to release the kite. "One. Two. Threeeee!" The kite was hurled to the sky, wandering for that moment, untamed. As I quickly pulled the string from my end, the kite followed with each of my maneuvers. It slowly ascended into the blue sky like a colorful ghost, friendly and inviting. In my mind I could see the pupils of everyone's eyes following my kite with awe and excitement. It was truly rewarding.

As the kite flew steadily floating on air. My son and my nephews took turns holding the string, making it steady. I could see the eagerness in their faces. Never have they flown a kite. For that moment I was proud, proud that I initiated them into this endeavor, proud that I was successful in making their faces smile. They enjoyed every moment of it.

It was good that Denise, my sister-in-law, brought some of her newly baked fudge brownies. We had a picnic right under the canopy of a century old acacia tree. Boy, that was a swell merienda.

A few minutes later, other people came. Some came with kites too, someone brought his pet dog for a training, some played golf, others just curiously watched along. The scene was happy, happy enough that it seemed surreal. For a moment time stopped, as if I was watching a movie in slow motion, sepia photographs being flashed one by one, no sound. Happy.

As I switched back to reality, the others were all set to pack up. Driving back, we cruised one last loop around the campus, recollecting days in college and how it was then, how it changed. But that’s another story.

That night, we all exchanged our experiences, how we enjoyed the activity and how we will one day experience it again. To everyone’s mind, we wished it will be tomorrow.