The soft swishing of the ocean, the almost silent sound of feet walking through soft white sand or the dull thump of horses' hooves, and the sharp snap of fabric in the wind. You can smell the kelp and seaweed that has been washed up on the shore, it's a strong, pungent smell. If you were to look up you would see dozens of kites, all different sizes, all different shapes. Some creatures of fantasy, like a dragon, some squids or butterflies, or huge multi-colored circles spinning rapidly. In the gaps between the larger kites are smaller, simpler kites flown by the people visiting the beach. Some people have stunt kites, a kite that is made for doing flips and figure eights with four strings.

The ocean is a dull gray, mirroring the overcast sky. Some people are barefoot, walking through the waves that come onto the beach to feel the cool water and soft sand. A thick fog is rolling in from the ocean. It's the kind of fog that would be considered 'pea soup', where you could almost cut it with a knife. The brightly colored kites become more muted shades of their original color. The farther away the kite is, the dimmer and more shadow-like it becomes.

All of the sounds from before become softer, the sounds of dozens of feet now completely inaudible except for the closest people. Many people are still walking the beach, once in a while stopping to watch someone do tricky maneuvers with a stunt kite, or to look at a larger kite. Pictures don't turn out as well through the fog, so most people don't bother trying. The people farther away look like ghosts, their voices sound distant making you wonder if this is what the spirit world would sound like. The muted hum of talking and the occasional burst of laughter.

The wind is blowing strong all the while, never really letting up. The fog gradually lightens, only to become thick again at the next strong gust of wind. The visibility is at about thirty feet, so it's lightened some, but not a lot. The fog has been around just long enough to make the sand clumpy and a little damp. You can feel the damp air against your skin. The kites are now fully shadowed, only the smallest hint of red, blue, yellow, or orange to tell you that it has color.

A group of seven horses is walking along the edge of the surf. The horseback-rides had been meant for people to get a view of the ocean and some of the kites, but with the fog none of the riders can see very much. Their hooves sound like mallets or large rocks being dropped into the sand. They leave a trail of indents behind them that slowly get filled in by the ocean's constant motion. As they walk by you can smell the scent of clean stables and almost picture yourself there.

You hold the two handles to a triangular stunt kite now. You can feel the tug of the wind and the thin strings whistle from the tension. Its bright, sky blue is muted to a blueish gray by the fog. You pull on the right handle and the kite makes a sharp dive toward the ground, skimming the sand with its point as you hold your hands equal again and it rises up. The fabric on the kite vibrates, making the bottom edge blurry and causing a loud buzz.

There's no delicate way to land a stunt kite easily and you can't easily hand it off to a friend or family member while it's flying. Anything less than crashing it nose first into the sand would cause it to fly back up, regardless of if you wanted it to or not. It really takes two to fly a stunt kite, one to set it up when it crashes and one to steer. Once it's on the ground and someone has a hold of it, then you can give the control to someone else. Then you can watch them fly and find out if they were any better than you.

After the winds of the beach, strong enough for you to fly your kite whenever you felt like it, the winds at home are weak. The kites you get in Washington are designed to hold up in strong winds, so they don't fly easily without them. But there will be things you won't miss about the beach. Almost every day is overcast and a little chilly, the ocean is as cold as Lake Superior, and you never stop moving when there's family you don't get to see often. The kites were calming for me to watch and I went with my family and had a wonderful time.