You'd think these people haven't seen the sun in eight months, or something. Oh, wait...

You know, pre-Copernican Europeans could be forgiven for thinking that the Sun could not possibly be the center of the solar system. I mean, if some loony star-gazer came over and told you that the Sun, which you hadn't seen around these parts in months, was actually the center of the known universe, you'd probably think he was a heretic, too. Come on, how can something that only deigns to show itself two months a year be the focus point of the heavens? What is this, the astrological wizard of freakin' Oz?

This nonsensical rant brought to you by wildly fluctuating levels of vitamin D coursing through my veins.

Anyway, what I am attempting to say is that, until yesterday, it had been a while since I'd seen the sun. And so when I woke up to light streaming through my windows, light that was not immediately obscured by giant rain clouds, I had two simultaneous thoughts: I now understand the Inquisition, and I'd better spend the day outside (What a day, what a day for an auto da fé? Preferably not).

So outside I went! Out and UP, taking the opportunity presented by clear skies to climb Arthur's Seat, the (other) volcanic protuberance that has occupied so much of my attention since arriving in Edinburgh. It was a gorgeous walk, surrounded by gorse and soft grass and rocky ex-lava flows.

When I got home, I looked up the history of the hill and its name, and...you know what? It's not all that interesting. Basically, an extinct volcano that may or may not have some association with a/the King Arthur. Call me when you find Excalibur up there. The best part of my research was learning that Arthur's Seat is one of several geographical features categorized as "breast-shaped hills," and reading through that list. Some people have an extremely liberal understanding of the breast.

Anyway, we had a good day out and about in the countryside, getting endlessly passed by German tourists, eating a picnic lunch and napping in the sun. I burned the shit out of my nose, but as this brings out the blue in my eyes, I've decided to view it as an improvement. The day ended with ice cream, which is a good way to end most things (and an extremely common ending in Scotland, which may love ice cream more than any place else on earth). Now we're back to overcast skies and drizzle, once again forcing me to sympathize with those establishment Pythagoreans who castigated heliocentrism and placed Galileo under permanent house arrest. Maybe they were just disappointed after the promise of a sunny day; if I'd been promised a heliocentric universe that did nothing to improve the weather, I would want to burn people at the stake, too, if only to keep warm. The lesson is, don't trust science.