summer snapshots

This rainbow shot through a humid evening downtown recently...it was pretty amazing. The warm weather is officially here to stay. Fortunately, I now have window air conditioner after coming to the conclusion that 97 degrees + no sleep is pretty awful. How did people survive pre-air conditioning?

I haven't done any races since the frustratingly hot St. Louis Half, but two weekends ago I ran a breezy 15k along the lakeshore, and Dave completed his first triathlon. Races always seem to inspire my running a little. There's just something about running with a bunch of people who know what it's like to get up for a training run at 5:30 am or sweat through 88 degrees at the end of a stressful work day; it's like instant camaraderie. I don't know if you've ever watched a triathlon before, but holy craziness...these people are hard core.

Still on the no-cooking food rule (and therefore eating a lot of smoothies and salads). If you're looking for heat-free ideas check here. Or maybe you should just eat this. The Chocolate Moose in Bloomington, IN makes an amazing grasshopper ice cream that I will replicate before the summer is over. What kind of ice cream are you eating this summer?

Dave made this wheat berry salad, which was delicious. Wheat berries are the whole wheat kernel pre-processing, containing both bran and germ. They contain fiber, protein, iron, and B vitamins and have a slightly nutty taste and chewy texture.

And my next project involves these. Any guesses?