Hello and welcome to Nightly Pleasures podcast, episode number 18.

I am your host and author of the piece you're about to hear today.

Fair warning, I am still a little bit under the weather, so this is an abbreviated episode.

It doesn't have questions on the end, but I promise I am on the mend, and it will be question

time again very, very soon.

Tonight, to set the mood, I'd like you to imagine rain. Warm, sultry rain, falling in steady

drips all over our bodies.

Imagine it flowing down from our heads

all the way to our toes in long, easy streams.

Hmm.

Spring is just around the corner,

and so is our piece tonight.

I present to you

deluge.

Hey, good-looking.

Mind if I buy you a drink?

You know, I have to admit, when you said you want to spend this much on a vacation,

I never, ever thought it would be worth it. But even in the rain, this is pretty magical. I kind of think it's wild how, and the other side of the world, it's the opposite season.

So even though it's the opposite season.

So even though it's the last days of warm weather here,

we're just chilling out and avoiding the last bits of winter.

Yeah, all right, all right, I'm a nerd,

...