Kiting enthusiasts from throughout North America are already gathering in Long Beach for the annual International Kite Festival to be held August 15-21 this year. Kites are a serious business here. There is a kite museum and at least one kite specialty shop. For one who purchased Hi-Flyer paper kites for less than a dollar in F.W. Woolworth's in a 1950's Columbus, Georgia, 21st Century kiting in Washington State is a whole 'nother ball game. Some kites cost upwards of $200 nowadays. That I should live so long! -- D. Grant Haynes
