4 days ago
"The Kite Man" Temo Chavez builds kites with his family in his Chicago garage
When they look into the sky, Temo Chavez and his family see beautiful possibility.
"I like how people are moved by looking at the kite flying so high," Chavez said. "They find it beautiful, I see the smiles on their faces."
Chavez started flying kites as a child; they were his favorite toy. He has been flying them for more than 40 years.
"Back in the day we had no screens, so we had to use our imagination to play," he said.
But Chavez doesn't just fly kites. He builds them with his wife Luz and daughter Atenea in their garage on Chicago's Southwest Side. They keep it simple; no frills or fancy stuff here.
"No high tech, nothing electronic; simple materials like wood, plastic string. Simple things," said Chavez.
It takes less than an hour for him to make a kite, which he attaches to a 2,000-foot string. When it's all done, his pride is sky-high.
"It's something I make and I make it work," he said. "Something really simple but at the same time so beautiful."
"I feel very grateful, actually," said his wife Luz. "It's something that is his passion that he passed on to us."
Luz said she didn't know about her husband's love of kites right away.
"It came out when we were dating. He started to show me. He loved building kites; I said, let's try it together," she recalled. "We do it every year since [our daughter] was three or four, go to the parks."
"Growing up seeing my dad fly kites, it definitely sparked a lot of bonding moments between us," Atenea said.
Atenea is a student at the University of Michigan where she studies aerospace engineering. And yes, she says there just might be a connection there.
"Every time we went out there, seeing the kite fly at those altitudes… helicopters and airplanes were right there," she said. "It was really cool that something that simple, and also in the background there's something so complex, I think it sparked curiosity."
Luz says the weather here almost always cooperates, too.
"When we moved to Chicago we found out Chicago has wind almost all year round," she said with a laugh.
One of the family's greatest joys is going out to Montrose Beach and sharing the joy of kite flying with people there.
"When I see people's faces and how they smile, I know for just a moment that someone feels happy," Chavez said. "Something they forgot during the year, the simplicity of life, the simple pleasures, for a minute I can see their faces. They feel good."
"The part I love the most is when people approach him or us, they ask questions," said Luz. "They tell him, 'We used to do this as a child, go to the parks.'"
"They get amazed how high it is up there," said Atenea. "The look on their faces, can you believe it? It makes me feel cool, honestly. I feel like I'm on top of the world."
Atenea has every intention of keeping the family tradition going.
"When I start a family in the future, I want to teach them how to build kites and fly them. It's something very simple, very beautiful, that I think is worth sharing to the world," she said.
"A dream of mine would be to see many people take the time to enjoy simple pleasures like flying a kite with their families, children, grandchildren," Chavez said.
Luz said a few years ago they had a special moment with a woman who said her father had recently died, and that seeing Chavez's kite soaring reminded her of him. She said he would have loved seeing it too.
Chavez loves to show other people how to make their own kites. He said the thrill puts him over the moon.
Do you know someone a person or place that brings you joy? We want to share your story.
Send us your "Eye on Chicago" ideas using the form below (or clicking here):
