Find a link to happiness this weekend

I ONCE heard somebody say: “It’s impossible to be unhappy when you’re flying a kite.”

I agree. You stand there, connected to the sky by a slender line, feeling the wind come alive in your hands as your kite dances on invisible waves. You’re looking up, away from all the problems and troubles of the world. Who could be unhappy?

The Cape Town International Kite Festival is one of my favourite events of the year and it takes place in Muizenberg this weekend.

It’s not hard to find the venue. Just look up and you’ll see the many amazing colourful creatures swimming high in the sky – dragons, divers, octopuses (it sounds better than octopi, I think) and serpents float high above the earth and all you have to do is follow those kite lines down and you’re there.

It takes place alongside the Zandvlei lagoon and the gates open at 10am on Saturday and Sunday.

Events include kite-making lessons, flying demonstrations, stunt flying and kite sales. You can buy a kite there, learn how to make your own or bring you own. Refreshment stalls are dotted about, but you are welcome to bring your own picnic. Entry costs R40 for adults and R15 for kids.

As a child I always wanted to build and fly a kite. We certainly had some strong wind in the Karoo, but my attempts at kite-building always ended in disaster.

My father and I used thin strips of bamboo and pages from the Eastern Province Herald to build our kites.

They looked like kites, but they flew like bricks. Some of them exploded before they even took off.

I think the Karoo has the wrong kind of wind for kites.

In the 1950s, when wool prices were high, my parents added a second storey to our house. The builder was a Mr Moller from Worcester.

When he was putting on the new roof my father told him he thought there were not enough wire ties holding the roof trusses in place.

Mr Moller scoffed and said he’d been building houses for years without ever needing more roof ties.

The next time he visited the farm there was a strong west wind blowing and as he drove up to the house the roof of the big tractor shed took off into the air, somersaulted high above us and came to land with a loud bang upside down in the cattle kraal.

Mr Moller immediately told his workman to double the number of roof ties. Maybe that’s why my paper kites didn’t last very long on the farm.

I plan to buy a good one at the festival and fly it whenever I feel the need for upliftment. As it soars into the sky I’ll think of all those forlorn little heaps of newspaper and bamboo we scattered about the veld.

Last Laugh

A man parked outside the pharmacy, went in and asked the pharmacist, “Do you have anything to cure hiccups?”

Without warning the chemist slapped him hard across the face.

“Ouch!” he yelled, “what did you do that for?”

“Well, you don’t have hiccups any more, do you?” smirked the chemist.

“I never had hiccups,” said the man. “My wife who’s sitting outside in the car has hiccups.”