KITE FLYING

Kites are tethered flying objects which fly by using aerodynamic lift,

 requiring wind, (or towing), for generation of airflow over the lifting surfaces.

Various types of kites exist, depending on features such as

material, shape, use, or operating skills required. Kites may

fly in air, water, or other fluids such as gas and other liquid

gaining lift through deflection of the supporting medium.

Variations in design of tethering systems and lifting surfaces

are regularly introduced, with lifting surfaces varying in stiffness

 from limp sheet material to fully solid material.

Children, running across an open field, launching kites into

 the sky. Imagine the sun on faces, the tanned skin, the

tousled hair. They look happy and healthy, and they most likely are.

If this is a familiar scene from your childhood, then you belong

 to the generation whose early years were defined by

afternoons of kite-flying. Unfortunately, many of us are not

 part of this generation, and it’s not hard to see why.

We’ve come to an age where our spaces are suddenly

interrupted by soaring buildings and power lines hanging

overhead, where day after day even children take to the

 mall or look to gadgets for entertainment.

Kite-flying, believed to have originated from China, seems

 to have slowly become obsolete in our age of

technological dependency.