A triathlon and soil

The last couple of weeks have been a race to see what fun things can be done in the waning days of summer.

A dear friend of mine decided to participate in the Iron Girl Triathlon in Columbia, MD so since I wasn’t the one swimming the .62 miles in an open lake, biking the 17+ miles on a hilly road, and running the 3.4 miles, the very least that I could do was get up at 4am to cheer her on. She did a GREAT job and her partners in crime were all part of her marathon training group. They were so awesome since so many of them were experiencing their 1st triathlon as well. These ladies ROCK!!

Speaking of rocks, I went to an event at the French Embassy to watch a work in progress documentary called “Symphony of the Soil”. It was made by award winning filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia. This is just one of many short films and projects of how the soil is one of the most valuable resources in nature. We listened to a panel discuss how soil affects their everyday life. The participants were comprised of a chef, a farmer, a sommelier and Deborah herself. It was a fascinating documentary and it really helped me to understand how society can be made into better stewards of the planet. Keeping it healthy allows us and future generations to stay healthy too.

Opening screen of the panel discussion

After the screening, there was a reception and the sommelier made a special drink for the occasion, called Soyer’s Bluecoat Gin Punch. Bluecoat is a particular brand of gin. Although I am not a fan of gin, this concoction was pretty tasty. It must have been the simple syrup! Restaurant Nora provided the food and they made it to look like carrots growing out of soil. Everything in this food platter was edible, even the “soil” which really consisted of toasted bread and bacon (although it did look like crushed up oreo cookies!). Everything was finger food so the only thing we had to scoop up the soil were little plastic cups and that’s what we did. French embassy or not, etiquette wasn’t going to get into the way of me playing with dirt! Although I shouldn’t really use the term dirt because dirt would imply that there are no nutrients and I would like to think that crispy bacon bits provides a lot of nutrients! No fat no flavor!!

Soyer’s Bluecoat Gin Punch

The beautiful table display at the reception

Carrots in “soil”

And what would summer be without some summer reading??? I finished David Nicholls, “One Day” and have begun reading “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett. I mustn’t forget that I also finished George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones”. That’s a bit of a mix – some medieval with a bit of modern romance. All of these stories are being or were made into small/big screen adaptations. “One Day” is being filmed over the summer starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. “The Pillars of the Earth” aired over cable in an 8 part mini-series (I faithfully watched all of it!) and “A Game of Thrones” is set to air later this year on cable. So if you missed out on the reading, you can enjoy the film/tv versions, however I am sure that the adaptations will be different from the novels of which they were derived. Isn’t hat always the case except I did hear comments from friends that “The Devil Wears Prada” was better in the film version than the book (a rare instance). Reading has always been a delightful way to escape reality and to let my imagination wander. When I’m in the throes of work and can’t seem to stop thinking about it, I go back to my try and true Harry Potter series to get my mind immersed into Hogwarts instead of thinking, “Where am I going to get that last $50K”. I would much rather be thinking of potions than reminding myself about paying the electric bill.

Cheers!

MXM