High Flying Hope

Excerpt from the article:

New Zealand kite maker Peter Lynn has a 30-acre spread in Ashburton, about an hour south of Christchurch. Walk with the 66-year-old engineer from the house he lives in with his wife Elwyn, past his workshop with a sign that says “The Engineerium,” continue up the dirt road to the kite-making factory, and it’s hard not to notice that there are other, er, enterprises on the land. Tenants include a kitchen builder, a junkman, a recycling center, and “panel beaters” — what is referred to in America as auto collision repair. In such an environment, therefore, it’s no shock to come upon a 1918 Bessemer oil well pumping unit. Lynn seems to take pleasure in the fact that it’s not green. “We thought we needed one in our backyard,” he wisecracks.