If you’ve been in kiting for a little while, you’ve probably heard the term “AoxomoxoA” (loosely pronounced ox-om-ox-owa) from kiting old-timers or as a vague reference in forum posts, this was probably first seen as the title of the Grateful Dead’s 3rd album but was later adopted by an early generation of hard core kiters (particularly Dean Jordan) to describe a sense, a state of mind, or way of being.
As well as being a term used by mainstream kiters, aoxomoxoa is also used by the kite buggy community.
Here’s a post by Andrew Beattie on the Usenet news group rec.kites on August 1st of 1995:
If you fly stunt kites to win competitions, you won’t understand, but if you fly to give pleasure and entertain the audience, you might find AoxomoxoA
If tangled lines are an irritating frustration, you won’t understand, but if you find untangling relaxing and therapeutic, you might find AoxomoxoA
If you buy rare and expensive kites and hang them on the wall, you won’t understand, but if risk hand-painted washi-paper kites in the elements, you might find AoxomoxoA
If you’re struggling to be the fastest buggier in the country, you won’t understand, but if you dream of buggying across dry lakes in the gentle zephyrs at 2am, you might find AoxomoxoA
If you build your own kites to save money, you won’t understand, but if you sew to try new ideas, you might find AoxomoxoA
If you wouldn’t lend your kite to a stranger, you wouldn’t understand, but if you’re ready to loose or destroy anything you fly, you might find AoxomoxoA
If you enjoy buzzing noisy stunters on the beach, you wouldn’t understand, but if you’ve found the pleasure of a simple, reliable single-line delta, you might find AoxomoxoA
One kiteflier, a buggier posted this video on YouTube to express his own state of Axomoxoa…
A long time part of kite lore, we thought it appropriate to share this with our readers.
