August Sweeps - Day 184

If you support me over on Patreon, you get an address every month, wherein I try to tell an interesting story and go over my goals for the month.  Because each month (for me) is approximately four days long, I do these every week.

I'm going to list this month's goals here . . . because I hate you.

1.  Write every day.
2.  Do sit-ups every day.  (easy) goal for August: 4000.
3.  Publish "Three Time Visitor."  (all I need is cover art)
4.  Work on "Only Have Eyes For You" and figure out how it ends.
5.  Put out Delusions of Grandeur "Star Wars Sequel" episode 1.
6.  Put out FOUR Storage Unit Serenades. (I know you hate them, but they give me pleeeeeasure)
7.  Finish "Hatchling."

I went into Walmart today, and actually saw one of those "Breaking News: I Don't Care" t-shirts I mentioned yesterday.  It was on clearance and was even in a Medium.  But I didn't buy it.  Breaking news: the sentiment of that shirt sucks.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In August: 211

Tonight, right before sunset, my sister and her husband decided to go out to the lake so the kids could fish.  I wanted to go, and threw my inflatable canoe into the back of the truck as they were getting ready to leave.  My brother-in-law has a pass so he can get into the lake anytime he wants (the last time I went in, they were charging ten dollars an entrance, but now it's gone up to twenty dollars).  I wish I had known about that this whole summer, because I really, really like the lake, which is only a mile or two away from here.

It was still hot, but a breeze over the water cooled everything down.  I got a picture with my nephew (he's at a stage where he makes weird faces instead of smiling now):

When we got there, the kids started fishing immediately, and I went about inflating the canoe so I could have some fun too . . .

. . . except there wasn't a pump for it (Big and I made that same mistake the summer I got it, going all the way out to the lake on a Monday night, and then having to turn around and go home).  So I jumped in the truck, took it back, found a pump, inflated the raft, threw it into the bed of the truck, and headed back to the lake . . . in the dark.  Yeah, I had totally missed the sunset and any real rafting time, but I was stubborn and took it out on the lake with the last bit of light there in the western horizon.

It made for some excellent pictures, at least.  This is the twelve year old doing what he does best:

After a few minutes out on the water (which was surprisingly warm, which I guess several days in a row over a hundred will do to it), I turned around and started to row back to shore.  I saw the moon rising in the distance, full and bright, and wished I had taken my phone in the canoe with me, but I was paranoid it would get wet, or worse, the whole thing would capsize and I'd lose my phone but not drown.

I rowed as fast as I could toward land, which should count as even more exercise, and managed to get a picture or two afterward.  But the really impressive huge moon was gone, and I don't know the camera well enough to get really good footage of it, but this lil video should capture some of the feel of it.

If you look closely (and I don't know if the resolution of these that I upload directly rather than put on YouTube first will show it), you should be able to see hundreds of flying insects, known as midges, cavorting about on the air.  Well, that was nothing: there were literally MILLIONS of them, swarming all along the water's edge, more bugs than I had ever seen.

I tried to capture the pure spectacle of them, moving in whirlwinds above the water, but I don't think they showed up as thick as they actually were.  Still, pretty amazing stuff.

All that was my day, but it didn't involve any writing.

And I may not make it.  My aunt is moving into her new house tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be there at eight am to help with heavy-lifting.  I just came back from my run, all sweaty and still wheezing when I breathe (not sure why I ever thought running was a good idea).  I did some sit-ups, and I can't stop yawning, and even though I splashed water on my face, I'm still hot.*

I wrote a few words, but I am so very tired, I don't know if I can even get a hundred words.

I struggled for a half hour more, typing what I could, until finally, I deemed the fight fought, and embraced the (quite literal) pillow of resignation.

Words Today: 437
Words In August: 1090

*Oh, today was unBosskly hot out.  I texted Big (who was at the beach) to tell him it was 105 degrees, and then had to text him an hour later when the thermometer read 108.  Dude, it was so hot, that Rish Outfield turned on his air conditioning.  And like his father, he would only use the air conditioner if the interior of his car were on fire.  So you know it was hot.