When it was first suggested that my husband should write a book about Kite Making and Flying, I must confess that I, like the rest of my family, was very surprised. I wondered what there would be to write about. After all, making and flying a kite are quite simple operations! One has only to tie together two sticks at right angles, cover them with paper or cloth, and add a tail! Of course, one must not forget a long piece of string, called the kite line. Having done these things, one has only to throw the kite up into the air on a suitably windy day and away it flies! Or-does it?

My husband hastily assured me that there was much more to the business than this, and, as he began to explain to me some of the technicalities of the subject, I realized that he knew far more about it than I had suspected.

Since that time, there have been visits to libraries and business premises; letters to individuals and firms; the house has been filled with specimens of cane, string, cloth and paper; models of kites have been looking down at us from their places on the walls; discussions about weather conditions and the science of flight have taken place, and a whole new world seems to have opened before my eyes.

Here, then, is a hobby which provides pleasure, entertainment, and education all the year round. The long winter evenings present an opportunity for artistic minds and busy hands to make the kites which can be flown during the bright summer evenings and at many other times during the year. These are the main things, but, as we shall discover, they are accompanied by many other enjoyable activities. In particular, as one looks round in an attempt to forecast flying conditions, one is reminded of the wonder and the beauty of the world in which we live.

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky

So wrote the poet, Wordsworth, and something of that same feeling will come over us as we see our kites-those kites which we have made with our own hands-flying so proudly in the sky above.

Phyllis Ridgway