Yesterday involved, among many other things, flying a kite. To get to flying the kite, there was the need to buy the kite, build the kite and then carry the kite to the beach. After the flying, (which lasted for about 15 minutes), there was the winding up of the strings, carrying the kite back and dismantling it to put it back in its case. So there was about an hour of effort required to fly a kite for 15 minutes.
I should make it clear that I have no interest in kites. This was all Jessica. She saw the kite in the toy section of a shop I went into to buy socks. I am interested in socks. She wanted the kite and made all sorts of promises about kite ownership and responsibility (not one of which she stuck to). Her interest in the kite lasted for about 2 minutes into the actual flying of it. She wandered off after that and took to splashing through a pool of beach water with her brother.
That’s life I suppose. Things start out with lots of hopes and promises with a naive ignorance about the reality of effort required. Even the good part is never as exciting as the prior idea of it. But despite all of this, and despite the moaning and grumbling throughout, there’s a happiness to be found in the experience. A memory made and shared. That’s what it’s about and that’s why we keep hoping, even if what we get doesn’t exactly look like what we imagined. Its still good and it becomes precious.
