Well, I wanted to do better today so of course I started that better off by writing in the 1st quarter right?
Wrong.
Okay, I didn't write in the 1st but I got the 2nd quarter underway early right with hours ahead of me so that I can write hard for the next four hours and end the morning with half a field or better yes?
No, it's the final hour of the morning and I am still not feeling the words and it's only my determination and perhaps the knowledge that playoff hockey was being played this morning that woke me when it did.
It's not the hockey, as it's only the Boston Bruins vs the Carolina Hurricanes who would have played last night at eight if not for the epic game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets, which was won by the Lightning.
So I'm not off to a good start and there's not even a hint of storying in my mind to make up for the lateness of the start.
This is not good.
I will harvest more than the minimum of a field that has been my least of the year, but will I harvest two which I've only done once this week which has but another two days to it?
Odds are....
I'd like to say yes, but how much can I write as the Montreal Canadiens play the first seed Philadelphia Flyers who are only the first seed because of the strangeness of the end of this season which was iced indefinitely back in March thanks to the Virus COVID as it was the Bruins who'd secured first with a great season.
But it's fitting because the Habs wouldn't have made it to the playoffs based on post Cpaitals game in November which came just before the first 8 game losing streak that after a brief return to good play, was followed by another 8 game streak of infamy.
So the Virus COVID that has saved the Canadiens' season because they had the chance to save it against the Penguins in Toronto.
Writing about the game amongst other things will give me plenty of fodder, but will it be happy fodder? The Flyers have been since before the break as they won 14 of the last 18 games before the COVID halt and played their way to the first seed by winning all three games against the round robing qualifying teams.
It won't be an easy series for the Habs and if it goes wrong as easily as the prognosticators might well be thinking that it will, it will be hard to watch.
Do I think that is what will happen?
I am fearing some hard days ahead for the Habs but don't think they can't win. It just won't be as easy as it was against the Penguins, which wasn't easy in the first two games.
I'm closing in on the harvest of half a field and I have time for a greater harvest than that as I have found the drive of practice that during a good time won't be the bulk or, sigh, entirety of any given quarter.
Oh yeah, the Hurricanes scored first and lead the Bruins 1-0.
Ugh, I'm watching a stupid commercial from Enterprise, which thankfully ended before the time that it took me to finish this sentence.
There are so many commercials that just rub me the wrong way.
Well, the Bruins answered back and the game is tied with 2:15 left to play in the first. That's not the upset of giving up a goal in the first and last minutes of a period, but it's close.
Yeah, you don't want to give up a goal at any time, but at the beginning or end is the worst.
Who am I rooting for in this series?
Meh to both, as both have given the Habs fits, though at least the Canadiens can remember the old dominance that they had against the Bruins for decades as they beat them in 7 Stanley Cup Finals in 1930, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1977, and 1978.
And all other series until 1987 where it turned for a time in the favour of the Bruins.
Now it's a little more even but the fact is, the Habs are only concerned with the Flyers right now. Anything else is just ud fans imagining greater glory than we would have had a chance in a normal season.
And with nary a game played in the playoffs, we shouldn't be doing that either.
Go Habs go!
It just won't be easy.
Then again, when is it ever?
It certainly wasn't easy in 1993 when they were down against the Quebec Nordiques two games to none which included an overtime loss by the Habs who were not looking at all like they were about to go on their last run to the Stanley Cup Finals of the 20th Century.
And yes haterz, that's what it was, the last of the 20th Century, not last ever. As much as you're probably thinking right now.
Well, I'm up against the end of the quarter and how'd I do, on the straight up harvesting, because you know that I didn't harvest a single word of story.
I did well, not a full field, but pretty close to it. Another hundred words, five or take a few and I would have nailed it.
So I have reason top be pleased that I found the drive.
But yes, bad form on the absence of any storying for sure.
Kuuanonnii all.
The Bruins have taken a 3-2 lead in the third.
And I have drawn my 52nd Peach cover, which reminds me I have to post the 12th cover to Instagram but my phone is charging and I'm going to let it charge until two.
I'm expecting a call then and the phone is only at the halfway mark now.
Shalll I check to see how many subscribers I have? Or is it a foregone conclusion?
Of course it's a foregone conclusion.
Oh bother.
But I'm not going to stop checking for subscribers periodically, even if it's going to brin me down when the number is stalled at two, instead of at one.
It's 3-3 in Toronto as the Hurricanes answered back and there's less than ten minutes to play in the 3rd.
No way this game goes five overtimes.
But it could go one.
The curse of the first game of the day?
Also, the rise of the 3rd quarter for me as the 2rd will soon be back to a thosuand words more harvested this week than the 4th which is the quarter that has won all the quarters this decade.
Yes, this is the decade of the 2020's and in this decade, the 4th quarter has won each week and scrap end week.
I'm going to have to skip on the writing in the 3rd tomorrow and maybe Friday to give the week to the 4th.
And I'm okay with that.
I want the 4th to have a perfect record this COVIYEAR.
If only I could be doing this as I envision it, but that's a ways from happening.
Sigh.
It's the 19th quarter of the week and I've just now slipped past the harvesting of 7000 words.
This is not good and I cannot guarantee that I will harvest half of what I need for one of those good weeks that has carried me past the harvesting of 600 fields.
It's actually 617 fields and counting that I harvested to this point.
Will I harvest my way past 620 fields, which is the least of what I should harvest by the end of the writing week which ends on Friday.
Oh noes, my stomach is demanding food.
Ugh.
So I'll be dealing with lunch and that expected phone call.
Well, I didn't think my stomach was going to make that demand on me as I've gone plenty of days without lunch this decade.
Overtime here we come.
I have a feeling that it will end much more quickly. It has to.
There is no way that it will go past the 2nd Overtime.
In fact, it won't get out of the first.
Well, it's an opinion because I haven't seen the future so I can't know that it won't last for seven Overtimes.
Wow, that would be some kind of terrible.
2 minutes or less is my call.
Nah, it will go longer than that. Though I'll probably be on the phone when the winning goal is scored.
Sadly, I have no great news for the person that I am expecting the call from as I didn't get to the thing I needed to get to until yesterday.
Sigh.
And the Bruins just won the game in double overtime.
Naturally I say boo because they're the Bruins and I'm a fan of the Canadiens who are their most hated rival.
For the Canadiens, it's a tie between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs.
Stupid apps that I have to work around because they have a stupid feature or two that frustrates me.
Fortunately, I was able to work around the stupid of this in a way that I can accept.
Still, stupid apps that have that frustraing feature.
Wow, the 3rd quarter has taken a 1335 words lead on the 4th.
And that was with the last count so it's even more now. But surely I'll cut deeply into that tongiht right?
I can't keep letting the 3rd take the 4th out behind the woodshed can I?
Well, I won't be writing in the 3rd for the next two days!
That much is decided!
And if that doesn't give the win to the 4th, then I am going to hella regret not writing in the 3rd for the next two days because that could easily cost me the harvesting of a full field.
Oh bother?
Whatever happens, I am going to bring the day past the harvesting two fields.
Maybe even now before I have to leave, though I might bring the writing this quarter to an end at four.
I am short of harvesting two fields by an easily reached three+ rows.
I'll get there before I go before the end of the quarter.
As long as I don't do any time travel of course.
I can never know when that will happen.
But I think I can get by without it today.
Though I am feeling the energy of time travel in the air.
And now it's the top of the hour and I am short by 224 words.
What to do?
Well, the first thing to do is go and leave words to the side, for now, I'll be back.
I'm back and the game between the Washington Capitals and the new York Islanders is underway, not delayed aby that much following the the earlier game that only went into double overtime, instead oof yestrerday's crazy 5th overtime.
Though both teams that won are teams that I wish had lost.
Oh well, it's only the first game for both overtime losers and anyway, apart from the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup this year and being the first team to secure a consecutive decades with a Stanley Cup Championship anyone outside of the Blackhawks, Capitals or Blues can win this one without doing that.
So that's only four teams that I have to worry about.
And of course any team that meets the Habs.
I don't want any of those teams to win. Though for that to be any team but the Flyers, the Habs are going to have beat the Flyers and make a lot of teams happy.
I came up short of the harvest of two fields. But I have to...
The game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens started on time and that's about all....
Oh bother.
The Flyers scored first on a power play.
And this is the Flyers' first power play goal of August.
Not good.
Though I don't immediatley feel like this game is out of reach.
How many games will the Habs play in where the team that scored first won the game?
Hopefully the trend ends tonight or the Habs will start out the series down 0-1 when winning the first game is of a great importance.
It's in the 3rd and the Flyers are up 2-1 and about to go on the power play. If the Flyers score, it's not game over, but it would be heavily tipped in the favour of the Flyers who've already scored on the power play tonight.
So yes, this is not the result the Habs wanted this game as they aren't even tied and are a bad play away from being down by two.
Go Habs go!
So this is the seventh series between the Habs and Flyers and whoever wins this series will take the lead.
Yeah, this game is looking like it's over with less than two minutes to play and the Flyers up by a goal and not looking like they can get the equalizer.
Ugh!
Great, the naysayers are looking right.
But are they happy about it?
For all I know they are.
Anyway, the Habs won the first two series against the Flyers, with both times resulting in them winning the Stnaley Cup, but 72-73 was only in the semis, while 75-76 was in the Finals.
But 86-87 went in favour of the Flyers who lost in the finals to the Oilers.
88-89 went in favour of the habs though and they went to the Finals where they lost to Calgary so through four four series against the Flyers and in each of them the team that won was 2-2 in the Finals with the Habs winning the only two Stanley Cups.
It's been in the Flyers' favour since then though as the Flyers won in 07-08, where they lost in the Conference Finals and in 09-10 where the Flyers lost in the Finals to the Blackhawks.
So it's 2-3-1 for the teams making it to the Finals in seasons when they mewet with the Flyers losing the two non-Finals appearances against the Habs.
Are they going to win this series?
I sure as heck hope not, but yeah they are the team on the rise and all the pressure is on them to win becauyse the habs wouldn't even be playing if the playoffs had been played in April as the Habs were 12th then and in no way going to move up 4 or more places.
Mind you, they're here, they have a great goalie, some forwards and some defence, the latter two that did a bangup job when they played the Penguins in the play in series.
So I”M not making no prediction.
The Habs can win if they play smartly and get some damn goals and can solve Hart of course.
If not, they lose a series in a season they hadn't played well enough to deserve any playoff time in a regular season while giving their young players valuable experience.
Mind you, if they go down 0-2 on Friday, then that's definitely tipping the series in favour of the Flyers.
Like more than just 2-0. That'd be like 3-0.
Still, at this time it's just one game.
Remember that naysayers!
Though if you'd ever asked me if I'd given any thought to the craziest way of dying, getting eaten by a dragon on the way to a fantastical world would have made me laugh as if you'd told me a knee slapper. I can read a story about dragons and fantastical world s but believe in them?
Well, until yesterday when I'd felt the rush of magic in my hand as I held the feather when that moment changed my life and made me believe that such worlds actually existed.
So I pulled myself close to her and clung on for dear life, which I surely didn't mind because she was easy on the hold.
“I should have known you'd be the clingful type Joseph Perris, not that I mind, I just wish you were stronger.
And just like that, the return of Rihana. I'll do better tomorrow now that's she's back on front burner. For reasons.