What a trip!

Slice 11 of 31
Today was the most beautiful spring day of the new year (2012). It was so pretty outside, sunny, and warmish but a strong breeze blowing. The day made me think about flying a kite which helped me think of a memory-

One spring day, shortly after Easter the year I turned 5, I was so excited to go fly my brand new kite specially from the Easter Bunny! I just couldn't wait! This was going to be the most fabulous kite flying day ever!

My daddy walked my two brothers and me back to the cliffs behind our house near the Summit Grinding Pits. The cliffs offered a perfect kite flying opportunity as there were no trees or power lines in which the kite could be tangled. It was perfect if the wind was blowing from the North like it was on this day. We started flying the kite and boy did it sail high!

Now, my daddy trusted me completely (uh-huh), telling me it was my turn and let me hold the string and fly my kite. Boy I still remember flying the kite. There were other kids flying their kites too. All of us enjoyed the moments of floating those kites on the breeze. Except my brother Mikey!

Oh, boy. Mikey was not happy because he wanted so badly to hold the string and fly the kite too...now he's 18 months younger than me so flying a kite was not something my daddy wanted to let him do. This would spell trouble in the end -for me, my daddy and my kite.

Mikey kept pestering my dad to fly the kite so pretty soon daddy had enough of the begging and gave in to him. He took the spool of string and handed it over to Mikey. Daddy just finished telling Mikey to hold on tightly to the spool and don't let go...Mikey did just the opposite...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

All of a sudden, the kite escaped the pull of an owner and took off floating in the wind. Now daddy thought he could play super hero, beat the wind and catch the kite. He took off running full speed down the hill to catch the spool of string. Now we all know that running down a hill and momentum add up to a big problem(especially when you've been looking up at the sky instead of down at the ground). TWUMP, THUD, OHHHHHH! Daddy tripped over an old railroad tie at the base of the hill between the end of the cliffs and the beginning of the parking area. The kite sailed on and daddy sailed into the ground.

The kite was gone, daddy was hurt and the kids were crying. My older brother, Skippy, ran down the hill after my daddy fell and helped him get back up to the top. He also helped my daddy limp back to our house. Now Daddy was in a lot of pain but didn't know that he'd broken his heel until late into the night when he finally agreed to let my mom drive him to the hospital to have it checked out. What a trip!