Sunday, September 13, 2009

Homemade kites and Ice Cube Love

Jasper recently reminded me that October is almost here, the month we all dread the most… it is so hot!! But I am refusing to think of October and I am instead enjoying the breeze the blows throughout the ghetto in September.

As the days get hotter, the winds are most welcomed. With each season there are special things to look forward to. One of my favorite parts of the windy times (August and September) are the homemade kites that so many kids are seen with.

A couple of sticks, a torn plastic bag and some string are turned into high flying kites that kids all over Mkhosana can be seen running with. Every time I see one of these kids with their kites I think back to the colorful kites of my youth. My rainbow bright, cabbage patch kid or Barbie kite made me so happy… but I doubt that my smile could even compare to the one on the faces of the little kids I see with their “Spar” (The name of the local grocery store) plastic bag kite.

Their smile is contagious and every time I see their kite flying through the air I get a giant grin on my face. When they offer to let me fly it, somehow I can’t get it off the ground….so I am left to enjoy on the sidelines but oh how I enjoy!!
A few days ago I heard some banging outside my bedroom window. This is not unusual as my house is the playground for all of the kids to play games that are not allowed at their house (ie, the ones that break windows or squash gardens) so I looked out to see what was going on. Tisang and Precocious were banging a frozen water bottle on the ground to break the ice so they could eat it. I got so excited and called them in the house and gave them a heart shaped ice cube from my freezer. We are practicing English, so I asked, “Tisang, what shape is that ice cube?” She looked at me with pride in her eyes, knowing that she understood the question and knew the answer. She quickly replied, “Love!”

Homemade kites and ice cube love are just 2 of the many blessings found in the ghetto during the month of September!! The journey and the adventure continue as we get closer to October, when the weather channel will tell us the sun is “scorching” and we will miss the kites, and the wind that they danced on!



2 comments:

Lovely Ladies said...

What a beautiful story! I had a tear in my eye!

Anonymous said...

interesting blog