Kites

In a country of perpetual sumer, it is hard to recognize the changing of seasons. Rather than spring, summer, winter fall, Haiti has hot and hotter, dry and wet, stormy and still. So searching for signs of "spring" here require a new set of clues in a place where flowers are always blooming, palms are perpetually green.

In Haiti, the arrival of spring, or better, Easter, is hailed in with the flying of Kites.

In the week leading up to Easter, the city has beecome suddenly filled with kites. Kites line the roadsides for sale, kites lift up in the air from rooftops in the city, kites rise above palm trees and electric wire to compete for altitude. Yesterday from our balcony, we watched as the neighborhood kids flew their kites from the rooftops, sending their home-made contraptions made of plastic and sticks flying high into the air, dodging electric wires, and trees. Driving throught the countryside this afternoon, we watched families send their own kites into the air, kids running along fields or roadsides, urging their kite up into a breeze to send it climbing, turning, spinning, and sailing above.

I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the kites here, but found this blog site with beautiful shots. Enjoy.

http://loganinhaiti.blogspot.com/2007/05/kites.html

Happy Spring. Go fly a kite.