Kites on Vacation

I flew into Wichita on Friday afternoon where I was picked up by my mother with whom I made the 96 mile drive north on I-195. Friday was a bit of a blur as I had had to get up at three in the morning to catch a shuttle to the airport at a quarter to four for a six AM flight. By the time I got to my mother's apartment I was pretty beat. My sister and niece came over and hung out for awhile. Then we went back to her apartment and watched Madagascar and played with the dog. My sister fell asleep (despite the fact that I was the one that got two hours of sleep the night before). I went back to my mother's and crashed.

Saturday was a more active day including the obligatory trip to Wal-Mart. You know, I live in one of the finest shopping districts in the country, but I can hardly afford anything. It's more of a finding that cool item you want and saying, how deeply in debt do I want to go or how long do I want to wait for this. In Wal-Mart I was struck by the fact that I could actually afford all this stuff. In the grocery section I had to resist the impulse to smuggle groceries back to San Francisco in my luggage because of the fact that they cost a third less than my corner store. I only got one thing though. Dirt cheap vacation shoes. Six dollar canvas shoes. Shoes that cost less than a shoe-shine. They made me smile.

Saturday afternoon we took my new shoes my Bella's butterfly kite and my mother's mermaid kite (actually it looks more like a carp) out to the edge of town for a little wind therapy. Here are some pictures from that afternoon.