Kite Eating Trees

I’m not sure if it’s just spring, the hill country or what, but it’s really windy here. Luckily, Austinites have been capitalizing on the wind for years by holding a kite festival. Not just any kite festival but the nation’s oldest kite festival. Loran, the girls and I ventured to the 85th Annual Zilker Kite Festival. We opted to park and shuttle into the park via bus, avoiding the traffic jam that kites are known to cause. Once there, we realized we were seriously underprepared. Sure, we’d put sunblock on, had water available and a few snacks, but no kites. People take this seriously, not only do they arrive bearing kites of all sizes, but some set up a makeshift home away from home. This is only a one day event, but some people basically had a campsite set up. Next year, we should at least bring a blanket and maybe a picnic lunch. I think others had the right idea by laying on the ground watching thousands of kites soar overhead. I do wonder what the percentage of kite to face injuries was. I’d hate to be the person who is destined to wear an eye patch for the rest of their life due to a kite festival injury. I probably just jinxed myself. Stay tuned.

If I were a serious blogger, I’d spend some time editing my photos beyond cropping. I would even straighten up my crooked city shots. But if I took the time to do that, I’d be even further behind in posting. Just cock your head to the right and you’ll see that Austin isn’t built like an entire city of Leaning Tower of Pisas.

Despite the lack of photos, we brought Ella too. That’s her hand in the photo on the left as we stopped to watch the little train that chugs through the park.

The girls loved watching the kites overhead, on the ground, zooming past our heads, dive bombing us, stuck in trees. Surprisingly, given the sheer number of kites being flown, we weren’t encountering a lot of people getting tangled with others. I’m sure it was happening, but it didn’t appear to be problematic. I noticed there was even a ‘Kite Recovery Team’ who was tasked with freeing kites from trees. I’m sure they were successful for the most part, but we continue to drive past the park and see the trees littered with kites. The festival’s website reports kite removal is still in progress and will continue until the trees are free of kite debris. God Speed Kite Recovery Team.

No kite? Fly a Lillian! Or, become a good tree climber.