The  Deep-Sea Alien, 3rd Day of Fall, 525 M.E. (Helios): I can't believe I'm saying it, but I wish that it would rain.

I was up late last night, playing a video game (Dying Light 2). I was stuck trying to complete a ridiculous parkour stunt on a windmill involving at least three jumps in quick succession, a grappling hook that didn't want to cooperate, and movements timed with the overly complex mechanisms of the windmill (Spruce Windmill in Lower Dam Ayre in case you've played the game). I kept missing my jumps, or the grappling hook wouldn't deploy, or I'd find myself just dangling on the end of a rope with no momentum, and my character kept either falling or dying or both.  

Look, I'm 71 years old and don't have the reflexes the game designers had in mind when they created the game. Plus I'm playing on PC with a keyboard and mouse on a game designed for PlayStation or PC with a game controller. But I'm hardheaded and wasn't about to let the game beat me, so I kept at it, over and over and over again, until I finally completed the maneuver. I must admit, however, that I believe that the game took pity on me at some point, because I missed the landing on a jump but instead of plummeting to my death as on the previous 20 attempts, this time I found myself standing on an elevated platform high up on the windmill that I hadn't even noticed before and within easy reach of the goal.  

In any event, overjoyed to finally complete the maneuver, I played on to collect the loot at the top of the windmill, and then for a while longer as my adrenaline levels and heartbeat subsided. It was well after 2:00 am and probably close to 3:00 by the time I finally went to bed. 

Which meant that I slept in until nearly 11:00 am this morning, and didn't finish my coffee and toast until noon. I then piddled about online looking at sport scores and updating the sports blog and generally putting off today's alternating-day hike, even though it's officially a walking day. I'm still too tired and rundown to walk a Jackson today, much less a full Tyler. The weather's warmed up from last week, but it's still pleasant outside and I have my new Bluetooth headphones to keep me entertained, but I just don't want to do it. So therefore, here I am, wishing that it would rain so that I would have an alibi to not take my walk.

To everything there is a season, and just because it's a walking day doesn't mean I have to walk. I mean, it's not like I'm hard-headed or anything.