A lobster, an octopus and a trilobite walk into a bar...

Early November in Connecticut is catch-as-catch can with the weather, so we were blessed today with bright sunshine, fair skies and temperatures in the mid-50s, a rare treat this time of year. New Englanders know to treasure days like this, as the next one may not come along until late March. I made the most of it by spending the morning on a two and a half hour walk on the banks of the Connecticut River with two neighbors and three dogs, and the afternoon at a Kite Fly at Hammonasset Beach. My dad is an avid kite-maker and flyer, and his kite club had a great day for its last fly of the season. Amid the traditional kite shapes and wind socks were fanciful beasts like the trilobite, lobster and octopus (partially hidden) above. These creatures are enormous, made of yards and yards of fabric and tethered to the ground with huge spikes or tied to truck bumpers. Their lines (which are not "kite string" but heavy kite twine and in some cases, rope) buzz and hum with the tension of hundreds of pounds of wind force keeping them aloft. It takes two to four people to bring them down and roll them up. While taking these shots I nearly beheaded myself on a staked twine; I didn't notice it until the kite shifted in the wind and the hum of the twine changed pitch!

{A close-up of the trilobite. This kite is 90 feet long.}

{A string of small fish kites and windsocks, with a large sled kite. And by "small" I mean 10 to 12 feet. I love the puffer fish on the bottom}

{It's hard to appreciate this size of this sled kite when it is in the air, until you see it in proportion to the two men trying to bring it down}

{It was a good day for horseback riding as well}

{My camera doesn't have a good wide angle lens so it was hard to capture the complete menagerie}

{The trilobite on the ground, getting ready to hibernate for the winter}

{Everybody run, there's a lobster loose!}

{A better shot of the octopus}

{Even Flat Stanley got in on the action}