The kite flying

The custom of Clean Monday includes kite flying. It symbolizes the desire of man himself to fly, to reach heaven, close to God.
When we were children, this day was very important and there was specific preparation for the construction of the kite. Then, most of the boys were making their own kite. They were taking thin wood from carpenters or reeds, those who were living in the village, colored papers from the neighborhood convenience store, string, newspapers and streamers for the kite tail.
So my brother, every year he made, not just one, but at least two kites, so that if one was falling, he was flying the other. After he was tying the wood, which had to be light, so that the kite could easily fly, and was making the frame, he was gluing the colored papers and then had to make the scales. It was taking a lot of attention to make the scales, because if they weren’t right, the kite would fly wrong and fall. And of course in the end there was the tail, which had to be long, to go high, but not heavy, because it could not fly.
After that, what was bothering us is whether it would be good weather, whether it was raining or whether it was blowing a lot. The ideal conditions for flying a kite are to have sunshine, but at the same time a light breeze that will easily lift the kite in the air, will take it high and will not risk falling.
In the beginning one had to hold up the kite, with both hands, and with the first blow of the air, he was letting it go and the other was pulling it to climb up. As soon as the kite was gaining height, the well-known phrase was heard: «Unwrap the string!», in order for the kite to go higher and farther.
Everyone was trying to fly their kite higher than the others and overtake them. Many times it got confused with others and eventually fell or became entangled in the wires of electricity. If it was somewhere close, you could pick it up, repair it, and fly it away again. Sometimes, however, it was falling to a very distant place and then you were losing it both from your eyes and from your hands.
When my brother had managed to fly his kite, he usually tied it up somewhere and let it fly until nightfall. Then, he was cutting the string and was letting it go satisfied, since next year he would make another one. Some children, who were living in the countryside or were going to open parts of the city, were continuing to fly their kite, like a game, all year round when the weather was appropriate for that.
It is very nice to see high, the sunny sky, full of colorful and different kites and below, low, the happy children’s faces, but also adults’, who help and participate in their joy and games!

Anthoula P. Veziri