I tried to be healthy yesterday. I didn’t like it.

The weather was lovely all weekend, and we had decided to drive to West Wittering – which is about an hour away, on the coast just south of Chichester – for a Sunday afternoon walk on the beach. All healthy and pleasing.

That was the plan. But the reality conspired to make it rather less appealing. We set off from home straight after church with not a cloud in the sky. A bit of a breeze, but still very acceptable walking weather. But by the time we reached the coast, however, it was completely overcast, and as we arrived in West Wittering, it started to rain. And hail. Deliberately.

During a lull in the torrent, we ventured forth from the car. Having refused to pay to park in the car park, it was about a mile’s walk to the beach. During this fifteen-minute trek we were roundly assaulted by hail-in-the-face, a particularly pungent aroma of cow, and the distinct feeling that this was a Bad Idea. But still we persevered.

When we arrived on the beach, the wind was even stronger. It was helpfully whipping up the sand and using it to exfoliate my face. I discovered what it is like to be a house with unwanted pebbledash as the sand/wind combo stripped off a layer of skin. We tolerated this for about ten minutes before retreating. We got back in the car, and as we drove home, the sun came out again. It did appear to have rained at home too, but by the time we got back the sky was cloudless once again. Bah. I hid under a blanket with a hot chocolate and a hot water bottle for the rest of the day, rueing the waste of petrol, time, and effort. And that was Sunday gone. Hmph. I have decided that healthy behaviour is overrated. If that is how I am rewarded for my efforts, I will stick to cake.