Go Fly A Kite

Today is a holiday in Greece. It's "Clean Monday," the first day of Lent in the Greek Orthodox church. As with all holidays here, everything is closed. There's no work, no school, nothing to do except go fly a kite. And that's exactly what Greeks do on this holiday. I went into town today to the area near the Acropolis, and on a large rocky hill, I watched hundreds of people fly kites. It's as serious a tradition here as setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July is at home. The kites are wood-framed paper kites, and today was a perfectly breezy day for the flights to take off and soar high over Athen's ancient sites. The kites reflected the personality of the flyer. Some were covered with the logo of a popular soccer team. Some were made to look like clowns. Some were fanciful swirls of color. It was a beautiful sight, and sitting around watching families fly kites, I decided that it's a very nice tradition. A holiday for kite flying...I like it.