Bermuda Shorts

03/29/13Go Fly a Kite

For those of you new to this space, you should know that prior to Live Out Loud, I blogged daily on a site called Bermuda Shorts. For island news and tropical updates, it was your “daily dish from paradise,” as I liked to say. After all, I’ve been living in Bermuda for just over four years now, so it made sense to write about this sunny place that I called home. Then boredom set in. Not boredom with the island—Bermuda is indeed one of the most beautiful places I’ve even had the pleasure of calling home—just boredom with the blog (you try writing about one topic for four years and let me know what happens). And so, Live Out Loud was born. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be telling you all about this idyllic island in the middle of the Atlantic. No siree! There’s still plenty to report, like how I joined hundreds of islanders flying kites on Horseshoe Bay this morning.

Why would I fly a kite on a random Friday in March, you might ask? Well, it’s not just any Friday. Today is Good Friday. You know, the day when Christians believe that Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross in Jerusalem. This being a Christian country, Good Friday is a very big deal. Businesses and banks are closed, as are schools and government offices. This is not surprising once you learn that Bermuda has more churches per square miles than anywhere else in the world. We islanders are some God-lovin’ folks!

So what do believers in Bermuda do today? We fly a kite!

Legend has it a teacher was trying to explain Christ’s ascension to heaven to her students, so she made a kite with a wooden frame in the shape of a cross and painted Jesus’ image on it. As it took off into the Bermuda sky, it symbolized his ascension—I’m sure a much easier concept for those young kids to grasp: Where did he go when he died? He went up. So from that day on, devout families island-wide started gathering at Horseshoe Bay with kites of their own, flying them high to symbolize the sacrifice that Jesus made.

As the gentleman says about 2:51 through the above video, which was filmed at Horseshoe Beach on Good Friday in 2007, “Kite day is all about families in Bermuda. We all get together and have a good time on the beach and fly our kites and eat hot cross buns.” Considering it was yet another blue sky day here in Bermuda, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day.