When I was a little girl, living on an isolated Saskatchewan grain farm, we were never bored like children of today. We had no computers, and only one tv station, and only a few well-worn, crude, handmade toys...but we had the fresh air, sunshine and the whole wide outdoors to keep us amused!

One of our favourite amusements was kite flying. Kites go hand in hand with a child's natural enthusiasm, and the constant wind that blows across the open prairie. We loved kites. We had box kites, wing kites, kites of all colours and varieties. We built them, decorated them, flew them and crashed them.

Another special joy of farm life as a child is the privilege of witnessing the miracle of new life. We had an endless procession of baby animals to play with and love. Puppies, kittens, calves, lambs, foals and the occasional wild baby came our way.

So, it was inevitable that the day would come when we found a way to combine our favourite things. The farm was always home to a family of cats. Half wild, half tame kittens who would grow up to patrol for mice and keep the sparrows on guard. Catching one of these kittens was half the fun!

Then, after that was accomplished, our child imaginations would be put to good use, braiding and tying little kitten harnesses. One loop around the neck, (not too tight or that would spoil the fun), another around its little kitty body and for good measure, an extra half hitch to be certain that he couldn't slip out! My little brother, Russell, was in Cub Scouts, So he was the obvious choice for the important job of tying the knots. While there weren't any badges for tying kitty harness knots, I'm sure that Russ would have earned one if there were!

Kitty flying was a special treat, possible only on days when the wind rose to 50km an hour or more - even a little kitty needs a lot of lift! With the kite well up in the air, it's fabric swollen and the line taut enough to cut our fingers, Russell would tie that final knot and up the kitty would fly!

We learned a lot about aerodynamics. Kites that have a counterweight mid way up the kite string tend to exhibit irregular and unpredictable flight patterns. We developed advanced kite flying skills and soon, with two or more kitty kites in flight, we could practice aerial manoeuvres, make kitty formations and imagine we were WWII fighter pilots engaged in mock "cat" fights!

It was a wonderful time to be alive and innocent. We learned about "lift" and "stall" and "uncontrolled flights into terrain" before we knew such words and phrases existed. The laws of physics came alive to fuel our dreams of a future when we might learn to fly real airplanes and the kitties could have parachutes.

We never did succeed in taming any of those kittens.