GO FLY A KITE
Despite American Airline’s worst efforts, I made it up to my home-away-from-home, Milwaukee, WI, this past weekend for an action-packed couple of days and stumbled upon something I’d never seen there before - a kite festival. It was the 45th Annual Motts International Kite Festival in Veteran’s Park and it was one of the chiller festivals I’ve ever been to; not many rules or ropes, just a bunch of Midwesterners wandering the park gawking at the kites flapping in the Lake Michigan wind. They had some professional teams doing choreographed shows, some contests and games for kids, and my personal favorite - a giant Octopus whose tentacles cast an other-worldly shadow as it sailed over the park.
“So many watches, need eight arms.”
No, really they needed eight arms - four adults total - to get this thing in the air. It was then staked into the earth by giant cables.
I wandered the event, admired the sights and sounds, and ended up under a tree on the far east side of the park with an ice water and a Gift of Wings chocolate chip cookie. I kicked my feet out and let my muscles relax. I look past he length of my sprawled out body, between my shoes sits the most stunning art museum in the world. The sun squeezes between the leaves dancing above me, the breeze blows in off the lake. Children chatter and fuss in the distance. The sounds of kites flapping slowly decrescendos. Wait a sec. Am I fading?
I open my eyes to see a giant alien squid monster hovering over the Milwaukee skyline. I fell asleep. At a kite festival. Camera in the grass beside me. How much time just passed!? I either look like a drunk or the chillest dude ever. We are in Milwaukee after all - there’s a good chance that I’m both (I am neither, for the record, just behind on sleep I guess.)
I gaze at the orange squid monster in the sky and wonder to myself… Is this the best nap I’ve ever taken?
“I fell asleep beneath the flowers, for a couple of hours, on a beautiful day.”
this guy gets it