Taking things for granted

Fresh air, clear blue skies, sun, rain, clean water running in your tap, electricity, friendship, health and so much more. Most of these are in our lives on a daily basis. It's part of who we are and are very important for our existence. Some more important than the other.

One good lesson I learnt while watching Rollie Pollie Ollie is, to always be thankful and show it. (yes! I watch cartoon because that's the only TV time I get and I share it with my kids). The sun decided not to come out because no one appreciated it in Rollie town. He (the sun) only returned when Ollie and his friends started thanking him for all that sunshine he gave which enabled them to go out and play.

We recently experienced the same situation. The sun didn't hide but got blocked by thick dangerous smog we call haze. It's an annual problem but this time it was pretty bad that it managed close down schools, companies and offices. We were advised to stay indoors.

The toll of not being able to go out was particularly hard on the kids. They felt imprisoned in their own house.

Luckily, it was over quick. By the 3rd day we could see clear blue skies and were rewarded with strong breeze. Not wanting to waste a minute we dashed to our daily sanctuary; park close by. What we saw was a sight to behold. The park was crowded! More than usual. I guess my kids and I weren't the only feeling the grunt of the haze.

It was definitely a bonus day because the sky was filled with many colourful and shapes of kites.
My youngest could not take her eyes off these kites. The look she had on her was hard to explain but I strongly believe it was a look of bewilderment. She has never seen it before. Even I have never experienced a skyline like this before!

Like Dash, Mr. Incredible's son, we darted back into the house, armed ourselves with a big tumbler of iced cold water and dived into our minivan.
A quick 5 minutes drive and we were greeted by this!

Not wanting to miss the action, my kids got themselves a kite too. Not one of the finest but it did it's magic.
Sad to say, I am no good at flying kites. After a couple of 'almost there' attempts, I was voted out. I left the kite flying to my husband and found a nice spot to lie down on the lush green grass and admired a theatrical display of 'kites gone wild' in the sky.

There were kites as big as 50 feet long! The huge one had to be tied to a tree trunk. It is not possible to hold the string, like an ordinary kite because a strong gush of wind will sweep the man holding it, off his feet! Now that's a sight to see. Imagine, instead of a man flying a kite, the kite is flying the man!
These kites come with a hefty price tag too-a couple of thousand ringgit!

We stayed till dusk and watched them meticulously roll away these big enormous kites.
It's just too much work (in my personal opinion) but I guess if you pay that price you better darn make sure it doesn't get punctured or get the strings tangled up.

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