Author: BassoonMan

My bol flies!

While it’s hard to believe that I actually made this thing (it’s called a “bol”), I spent the last week assembling it from scratch. Yes, I even sewed it myself! It is a huge flying toy – eight feet in diameter. While many bols can be larger – much larger – the fact that this one flies still amazes me. Unlike kites, bols usually just sit (or hover) near the ground. As the following video shows, it also flies (just a little bit).

With everything that’s going on in my life (most of it is EXTREMELY stressful), I’m finding a bit of momentary relief by making and flying my own kites. It’s simply great fun to go down to the beach on the weekend, unfurl lots of flying stuff and chat with those who happen to be in the neighborhood. As a rule, kites are benevolent absurdities that have almost no practical use (at least not for weekend flying at the beach) other than to bring smiles to the faces of anyone who sees them. Of course, those that fly them also get to momentarily forget life and enjoy the wonderful colors and the trill of feeling the pull whatever it is that they’re flying.

More pictures of my new bol may be found by double clicking on the photo below.

It flies!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some wind tomorrow (Sunday).

Rev 1.5 and my boy

While I bought this Rev 1.5 for me (I wanted the added control so I can make it “dance” in the sky to my iPod), every time I’ve flown with my boy, he automatically gains control of the reins! Unfortunately, that probably also means that I’ll eventually have to pluck down more bucks so that we can each have our own. Oh well…I guess I had it coming to me!

This video, taken with my cell phone last Sunday (March 25, 2007), shows that he can fly it although if you look carefully, you’ll see that it gives him quite a pull. Just the same, that doesn’t stop him from wanting to fly it. Based upon my own experience, it’s kind of fun to get pulled along!

My first homemade kite – a Square Flake


My Square Flake in the sand
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man.

I can’t believe it but I’ve just made my first kite – it’s called a “Square Flake” as it is made from six squares and kinda-sorta-maybe looks like a snowflake. As soon as I finished it, I went down to the beach (Doheny State Park) in order to see if I could get it airborne. As usual, there wasn’t any wind but I was able to get the kite aloft for a minute or two at a time. It really does fly! (Double click on the photo and you’ll be taken to my Flickr page where you’ll find more pictures of my Square Flake).

Of course, this means that I’ll have to make even more kites but I now know that I’m capable of doing that. All in all, I’m very excited about this “creation” and am looking forward to seeing what else I can make.

Yet another windless day

I’m beginning to wonder if there is such a thing as wind – we haven’t had any that’s sufficiently strong enough to lift a KAP rig in ages. As there is not much I can do without it, I added a weather

Weather.gif

conditions section to this blog (located on the right side) about a week ago – it is automatically updated about once every hour. As can be seen from the latest weather conditions (as noted in this screen capture.

As you can tell, There is no wind – well, almost. The interesting thing is that the winds are so light that even the weather bureau can’t figure out what direction they’re allegedly coming from. Ugh!

Since I’ve added this information to my blog, I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen any data provided for gusts – if there is no wind, there certainly can’t be any gusts. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will change – and soon!

Okay, this is getting serious. . .

I’m so hooked on this new hobby that I think it would be best in order for me to learn how to make my own kites (which, obviously, is also very cost effective – and I can certainly benefit from that). I just learned about “Kite Making Retreats” (can you imagine that such things actually exist?) on a KAP forum. It appears as if a lot of the folks who enjoy KAPing also make their own kites – again for the obvious financial reasons, as well as the gratification that comes from using something that you have created yourself.

As usual, I was too late for all but one of the kite making retreats being offered this year (all of them in other states) except for one – the 2007 Junction Kite Makers Retreat. After learning of this event, being held at the end of May (over the Memorial Day weekend), I checked the cost and found it to be extremely reasonable. Sooo. . . I’ve now taken the plunge (I REALLY need some hard stress relief time) and have signed up. Of course, I’ll be a complete newbie but that shouldn’t matter.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this new form of stress relief, kite flying, is that it is relatively inexpensive and also is kind of a “purposeless” activity – after all, what point is there in putting a piece of fabric up in the air? Other than the shear enjoyment of kite flying, and watching as kites soar across the sky, there is no real purpose. That; however, is exactly what makes it so great. Sure, it’s tough (sometimes very tough) to get the real world buzz (which is more often a full-blown roar) out of one’s head, but flying a kite can sometimes dull the steady, incessant noise of life’s major problems. Another interesting element is that flying kites leads to meeting other people who have smiles on their faces which, of course, can be contagious. If for no other reason than that, flying is very gratifying. 

Junction, Texas, here I come! (BTW, I had no idea where Junction, TX is – it appears as if it’s in a rather isolated location with lots of quiet – sounds good to me.)