Saturday, A and i went down to the kite festival in Wildwood. He got me into kites right after we started dating. The first time, I spent almost an hour just trying to get the kite off the ground. If you ever tried to fly a kite as a kid, you probably remember the intense frustration of running around in circles holding the kite while somebody else held onto the string and shouted directions at you. It was like that, except that stunt kites take off from the ground, and you get it into the air not by holding it and praying the wind picks it up but by waiting for a good gust and pulling the right way on the string.

Then I got it up into the air – and spent the next hour or so crashing it. Eventually, A took pity on me and we went home, but not before I’d caught a taste of the kite bug. We tried to keep a kite or two in the car, and when he sent me a care package while I was in Den Haag, he packed a kite.

Last year he discovered the kite festival in Wildwood, almost by happenstance, and we went and had an incredible day. This year, we both made sure we were off work for it. There seemed to be less kites this year than last, perhaps because the wind was a bit light. Still, it picked up enough toward the end that I had to work to keep the Flexis in the air and myself on the ground.

Then today, it was brilliantly, wonderfully, summer-y hot, so I made snickerdoodle ice-cream. Recipe to follow if it turns out well.