Sunday morning

I am extremely fond of lazy Sunday mornings.

I plan my long runs for Saturdays so I can maximize lazy Sundays whenever possible.  Next week at this time, though, I'll be at a triathlon.  The week after that, I'll be on a plane to Vermont for a conference.  When I come back, it'll be August.  Thus, taking advantage of Sunday mornings at home when they present themselves is very important.

A copy of the Sunday Star Tribune has been an integral part of Sunday morning as long as I can remember. I spent the last few years' worth of Sunday mornings saving up quarters to use in the paper box across the street, trotting to the neighborhood coffee shop to buy a copy when the quarters were sparse.  This year, I finally ponied up for a subscription, and now I open my door on Sundays and find a copy waiting on the doorstep.  (Yes!)  Three cheers for print journalism, right?  No amount of web content can replace reading a hard copy of the Sunday paper.

Today is supposed to be a scorcher. One meteorologist informed me that the dewpoint would be as high this weekend as earthly possible, if that's a viable expression.  But I stuck to my resolution of making decisions based on my January-self wishes (e.g. In January, would I give anything to eat breakfast outside on a warm summer morning?  Yes.) I headed outside with my cereal, peach and paper.

It was sticky, but there was an occasional breeze that made it more comfortable. Who am I kidding?  When I came back inside an hour later, I checked the weather. Temperature: 89.  Heat index: 101.  Time: 10:45 a.m.  Yikes.

I start with the sports page, reading about last night's Twins game, then work my way through the sections in order, from the front page to the travel and variety pages toward the back. I checked the grocery circulars and said "Ooh!" when I noticed a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for strawberries.  Seriously, this is what drives where I purchase groceries this week?

Midway through, I took a peach break.  A couple of summer ago, I got burned by a series of lackluster, mealy peaches, and as a result, my passion for them cooled.  But I took a chance this week and bought three peaches, which turned out to be extraordinary.  I set a knife aside to cut this one, but left the knife in the kitchen, so decided to tackle it with my spoon.  A perfect peach, the spoon sliced right through it:

I love that weird uneven spoon-cut.

And then I finished with my CryptoQuip, my favorite puzzle.  In high school, I used to have CryptoQuip races with my boss at my summer job.  Solving the puzzle and reading it out loud usually elicits a nerdy chuckle from me, especially because I love puns.

The rest of the weekend will involve possible grill-buying, definite watermelon-eating, movie-watching ("Horrible Bosses")...and staying out of direct sunlight.