Kitty Hawk NC, kite festival

http://vimeo.com/46201628 Driving to get to the Kitty Hawk NC kite festival was awful. The roads were littered with enormous billboards, all advertising used cars or tacky restaurants or gas stations. I felt assaulted, overwhelmed and fretful. As if someone had been yelling in my face for hours.

Then we got out onto the island, and things seemed to quiet down some. The billboards disappeared. Traffic felt slower. We pulled into the Wright Brothers national memorial where the festival was being held and it was actually peaceful. We got out of the car, found a spot and launched our kite along with everyone else. Veda started running with it, smiling and giggling. It was like a dream.

And then I turned and noticed this enormous diver-shaped kite behind me in the distance. The way he moved was so graceful, so quiet and fluid. I know I didn't capture it here in this little video, but it was almost transcendent. Amazingly beautiful.

Being transfixed by that kite for a long while, and then getting to talk to the owners who fly kites for a living (!)... hearing their experiences and stories -- it was the highlight of my weekend.