Catherine’s Wheel

Catherine's Wheel Being Pulled Well, I finished my first attempt at a “Catherine’s Wheel” last night – a piece of line laundry that is supposed to spin in the wind. It was rather easy to make except that the instructions were about as clear as mud. As a result, I don’t know if it’s going to spin or not – if it’s not constructed properly, it will inflate but not spin. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any wind either last night or today so I ended up taking my boy down to the ocean where, of course, there also wasn’t any wind (not even the slightest breeze). So. . .what does one do? Have your boy run with it, of course! The picture at the left shows just that. 

As is evident, my Catherine’s Wheel did inflate but I still haven’t been able to tell if it will spin. My boy’sCatherine's Wheel Flashing By test run did prove that it will at least appear as a circle. Sadly a couple of the bridles came loose during it’s maiden voyage. I used Dacron line and tied it to the wheel using sheet bends (as the instructions directed). Unfortunately, the Dacron is too slippery and a couple of the knots came undone. I’m going to super-glue each knot tonight as tying them on was a bit of a pain.

Catherine's Wheel at the Finish Line Even with the lack of wind and the problems with the bridles, I think that the Catherine’s Wheel turned okay. I’m just hoping that it will spin. Only time will tell that – I’m going to try again tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed!

The Kite Regalia

Kite RegaliaGosh, flying kites is FUN! Yesterday was very hot (I just hope it doesn’t get humid like last year) and decided to take my boy to the beach. Of course, I brought far too many kites but happened to have all but one of my own creations; the only one missing was my first kite, the square flake. As it turned out, the beach was packed (but, because I paid for an annual pass to go to State Beaches as it is much more cost effective) but, because the beach are is so wide (we went to Huntington Beach), there was still a lot of real estate to set up shop. 

So. . . guess what I did (just one guess now)?! I set up my full regalia of kite creations! I’ve got to admit, it’s quite a thrill to see everything up in the air. I had my new kite arch, my banners, my carp windsock, my bol, as well as my entire flock of duck windsocks. Just as exciting was the fact that there was a good, strong steady breeze. The only bad thing is that I forgot my KAP rig (darn!) – both the weather and my kite display would have been perfect for KAPing. Oh well . . . maybe next time! 

Fortunately, I did have my cameraMother, Child, and Kite Arch and managed to get quite a few ground-based photos. Digital cameras are absolutely wonderful in that you can take as many photos as the memory card will hold and, of course, there is no need to develop anything. As a result, I know take a lot of pictures and shift through them to find the ones I like. Yesterday’s photos were not exception – I managed to get quite a few that I liked (more than I normally would). In addition to numerous views of my compete set of flying things, I had several favorites; including a photo of a mother with her child who decided to park themselves on their backs directly under my kite arch. Double clicking on the picture will open up a larger version on Flickr. Once there, look at the larger photo sizes in order to view the mom with her kid. I can’t think of anything more flattering than to have something like this occur! 

Pelicans and the ArchIn addition to the wonders of enjoying the beach on a warm summer afternoon and flying kites, I’m always thrilled when any wildlife show up – in this case, a flock of pelicans flew by and, as luck would have it, I had my camera too! While I only got a couple of photos and didn’t really have time to set up my camera, I did get a couple of shots. My favorite is the view of the pelicans flying past my arch. 

While the pelicans were only around for a few moments (long enough to fly by), my own flock of Line of Ducksducks managed to stay pinned to the sky. I’ve been amazed at how stable the ducks are – they actually stay right-side-up while they’re flying. There must be something inherent in their design that allow them to remain that way. Bol

Another one of my favorite photos happens to be one I took of my bol. I didn’t realize it until I arrived Through the Eye of the Bolhome, but the hole in the bol (no, I’m not attempting to be a poet), was centered over a life guard tower. I didn’t catch this until I was editing my pictures to post on Flickr. I cropped it in order to highlight the neat view! 

Finally, I was thrilled with the picture of the “duck tails” – a composite of my duck windsocks Duck Tailsbehind a partial view of my arch. In addition to the pun (which is intended), I thought it made for a rather interesting shot.