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kiss the clouds, travel the jetstream

fishing for smiles - facebook
Serendipity happens when least expected – what a keen grasp of the obvious.

Some of my best findings have been on accident.  Wandering a back street in Mexico only to stumble on a reenactment of Passover; going for a walk and seeing a red fox running down our street … in the city; or finding three baby raccoons tucked safely under the cover of our barbecue.

 ser-en-dip-i-ty:  accidental discovery

Today was a serendipity day.  A drive to Eugene to take care of stuff on a rental house, with plans to have dinner with family later in the day.  In the meantime, there was present hunger and time to kill.  Instead of quick, drive-thru fast food, a stop at the local market provided an impromptu picnic, textbook for one of the parks by the river.  The day was marvelous; cerulean sky, warm sun freshened by just the perfect amount of wind.  One of those hurray, I’m-almost-a-kid kind of days in the valley.

Crossing the pedestrian bridge that hangs over the McKenzie River, there was a man preparing to fly a kite.  Then it quickly became kites…plural…as in 37 strung together, carried higher and higher as he continued threading them on.

People stopped to talk, mesmerized by the man with the kites.  He said, “Fishing for smiles on Facebook.”  He continued to impart tidbits of information to passersby, like his personal best was 45 kites, but the world record was over 11,000 kites.  I don’t know about you, the 37 was a pretty cool show of dancing aerodynamic delight…elongated diamonds with fluttering tails taunted and teased in the wind.

I’ve seen kites before – lots of times.  I remember my Granddaddy constructing a box kite that was covered with pale blue tissue paper with glitter specks.  I’ve flown them and watched people skilled at maneuvering stunt kites.  However, there was beauty in the simplicity of these bright spots of color, purchased two for a buck at the Dollar Store. 

Enjoying the accidental…

Missy


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Comments

  1. How well I remember the box kites..Mom

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    Replies
    1. You said you remembered a red one ... The one I remember was pale blue with sparkles!

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  2. I vaguely remember my kids having kites and helping them get them in the air. Don't think I've ever seen anything like that though. Never heard of anyone flying more than one at a time. Learned something new today. Yay. Love how serendipity works. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, Marlene! Don't you think it's a little sad that we only remember kites from childhood? The man who was flying them wasn't a kid or even a youth. We should try to capture serendipity, but then would it still be serendipity?

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