Rick is one of those real quiet guys that everyone sees but no one really knows. We see him at the kite club meetings and he usually doesn’t say or comment much during the announcements but none the less has a pretty good knowledge about several aspects of kiting.

“It is the dad’s responsibility to take his kids out to fly kites- at least once” says Rick. “When the kids were small we lived next to a big park and so I did take them out.” Rick says they started with a Barney the Dinosaur plastic diamond kite, and naturally he was left “holding the kite” so to speak. Rick then bought a couple of kites at a garage sale since he knew an upgrade was necessary. One of the kites he bought was a stunt kite and after several attempts in flying it looked for some help and ended up at a kite club meeting.

Rick’s previous job gave him the opportunity to make it out on the field periodically on weekdays. There he met Virgil, Slim, Norm, and Charlie- he refers to them as “the Old Farts”. Though he admits he is usually not a social person, Rick found a connection with the gang at the park. He says he and them just used to shoot the breeze, watch the ponytails push the girls on their runs, borrow a kite, and check out the latest completed projects. Rick says relatives has told him he was born an “old fart” which explains his natural connection with the guys at the park.

Rick doesn’t have any single interest, but rather enjoys the diverse aspects of kiting. You will see Rick flying single line, dual line, and quadline kites. Rick will be happy to show his sewing projects and even more recently his KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) photos. His doctor has felt the kite flying is good for his blood pressure. If you stay later in the afternoon on Kite Club Meeting day, you’ll probably see Rick take the field and fly a stunt kite or two. Rick says its his “favorite part of the day” since alot of the members have left and the sun and wind are asking to be enjoyed.

Rick’s family isn’t too excited about kiting, though they attend an event or two every year. They do know that meeting day is HIS day and it would take something very big for him to miss it. His daughter though has used kites in a couple of school projects. Once they built and decorated a rokkaku for a report on Japanese culture. She also did a science report on how a tail affects the stability of a kite. Her project did well enough to make it to the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair.

One of Rick’s other interests is Geocaching. Its sort of a high tech treasure hunt. In this hobby people hide tupperware or other types of treasure chests with toys and other items. However, instead of a rolled-up map, searchers use GPS coordinates to locate the booty. The satisfaction is of course finding the items after following the coordinates. Rick says “Mostly it is another reason to get off the couch and get a little exercise.”

Rick has been with the club for 8 or 9 years and says he is glad to have run across it early in his kite career. Though he may not talk or say a lot during the meetings he does enjoy watching the good fliers do their stuff, and seeing the good builders showing off their latest projects. Of course Rick will sometimes show off a little too. He likes helping out the newbies when he can, just as he got help when he needed it. “I fly kites and go to meetings to have fun and relax, you won’t find me involved in the controversies that inevitably arise in any organization, few that are in this club.”

Very well said Rick

Aritcle by Ron Despojado