The Old Man & His Kites

The Old Man & His Kites

         I was at a sporting goods store buying some braided fishing line to use as kite flying string when I heard two people talking about an old man who flies kites at El Franco Lee park… a park near here. They said he is out at the park quite often but I have never seen him. I build kites and fly them there, but I have never seen the old man. I think he might live in my neighborhood because one day I was flying a kite in the cul-de-sac when I heard a neighbor boy tell another that there was an old man flying a kite in the street. I looked all around but didn’t see another kite. There aren’t many men like myself who fly kites all year around, so I would like to find this geezer and talk to him. Maybe we could form a club or something.

         I decided to go to the park every day until I find the old boy. It might be entertaining as well. I overheard someone saying that he can’t run very fast and when a kite gets away from him it is fun to watch him scramble to catch up to the string winder as it bounces along, trailing the kite.

         Well, I have been going to the park every day and my search seems to play out like a broken record. I will get there any time of the day or evening and not see a kite in the air, but later, when surveying the park for some sign of a kite I will spot one flying. As my eyes track down the flying line to the string winder I will find a red kite-bag and a green fold-up chair… but no old man. No matter how long I wait he won’t show up. There isn’t much to do in this park so I can’t imagine where he could be hanging out. If he is in the restroom that long he must have a problem that I don’t want to know about. There is a small playground and some soccer fields but they are empty most of the week.

         I have thought about writing a book about this quest for the truth; a good book that could become a movie some day. But, unless I solve this mystery a book would be worthless. For now I am making video clips documenting the search every day that I go to the park. I think that is better than taking notes… the proof is in the seeing.

         To help me with my pursuit, please review my videos by searching YouTube or Google for: kites,tattler100,old man. If you have information to share, please make a comment on one of the YouTube video pages.