Go Fly A Kite

 Not sure if I attended the very first Kite Festival in Arvada, though I do remember going to some park to watch people fly kites. At that time, the first 25 people were given a navy t-shirt with colorful kites on it.  When the flying of the kites was moved to Stenger Park I went to three of them and today was my fourth Kite Festival at Stenger. I was surprised that it has been around for eighteen years so I must have been around sixty-seven years of age when I went to my first kite festival. The difference between then and now is that now it has become a huge event. Many more people than in past!

Today was a day of surprises for me. The park opened at ten in the morning, and I arrived around eleven and there were a jillion cars with no place to park.  I followed the line of cars also looking for a place to park, and finally found a spot. It was quite a distance from the flying kites so I began my long walk to the main area. I recalled that when my son, and then my grandkids, played soccer on those fields, there weren't as many fields as I saw today. I had no idea that the small lake, that some would call a pond, existed! Every soccer field had people flying their kites, but I wanted to get to the main area with the food trucks and vendor tents.

I could tell that some people are experts at flying kites because they kept their kites up for longer than the least experienced who had their kites flopping to the ground. The weather seemed perfect though it was cool, but the sun was shining and there was plenty of breeze to fly kites. Walking across the fields, I was surprised at how large the fields are and marveled at soccer players who run up and down the length of the field when they play. 

The 12 food trucks were lined up and I saw barbeque, chicken, turkey legs, popcorn, fries, funnel cakes, and cheese for sale, plus other goodies. Leaving the trucks, I made it to the vendor booths and saw psychedelic t-shirts, kites, baseball caps, jewelry, tattoos, cheese bread, water bottles, crochet stuff, coffee, brownies, hammocks, clothing for martial arts, and a sign: Everything you want and you didn't know you needed! There were dog walkers with different breeds, lots of babies in strollers, toddlers excited as parents flew their kites, people standing around tall, round tables eating, and many trying their luck at flying a kite. There were kites in the air or on the ground, and I noticed Minne Mouse, dragons, octopuses, butterflies, and turtle kites. 

I got a kick out of a tiny tot as she chased the ribbons on the ground and I think she thought she was flying a kite!

I enjoyed watching all the activity but when my knee began to bother me, I headed to my car. Reaching the car, I had clocked 1.4 miles on my phone.

The next Kite Festival I will go early and take my own chair to sit and enjoy watching the people and the different kites.

 

"The optimist pleasantly ponders how high his kite will fly; 

the pessimist woefully wonders how soon his kite will fall."

William Arthur Ward