Any week that includes time spent with my family up in Connecticut is sure to be packed with beautiful things. Here are three of them:

1. My trip is bookended by darkness. My train trip to the airport offers glorious pink hued skies which later are reflected on the Atlantic below the plane. On the flight back, we fly through haze that eventually clears just at the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I can see down south to the coast, and cotton candy clouds reflect the sunset on the other side of the plane.

2. My parents’ house is surrounded by gardens and trees and they work hard to make it an attractive place for the local fauna, being especially successful this year with goldfinches and hummingbirds and butterflies. One evening, as I sit on the back deck, chatting with Rudi on my cell phone, a little brown hummingbird whirs around my head and peeps at me before flying off over the roof.

3. My parents have a hammock along the side of the house, tied between two shady trees, within easy reach of a handy table where you can put a drink or a book or a knitting project. I lie there in the afternoon for a nap, rocking gently in the breeze, and wake feeling utterly refreshed.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

I head to Connecticut tomorrow for a long weekend with my family. I expect it to be full of beautiful things — loved ones, a hammock, great weather, books, knitting, PBS — and hope to come back feeling refreshed and ready for the fall. Before we move forward, however, we need to look back and find three beautiful things from the past week, which I record here with Jeremiah draped over my shoulders:

1. Not feeling well on Friday night, I canceled plans with Julia on Friday night and came home and slept. By Saturday morning I felt a lot better. And Julia was able to join us for a post-beach dinner that night instead.

2. Prior to Sunday, the extent of my exposure to Great Big Sea was streaming an album of theirs earlier this year. But people have always said that based on the bands I like that I’d appreciate them and Sarah‘s a big fan. They were all correct, and I spent Monday morning playing videos of songs they had performed under clear, moonlit skies and before an enthusiastic Wolf Trap crowd. I predict a few new cds in my near future. (If you aren’t familiar with Great Big Sea, but like Barenaked Ladies, Eddie from Ohio, or Moxy Früvous, you might consider some, too.)

3. Finally, we’ve had an absolutely fantastic week of summer weather. (I can’t say how weird it feels to write that in August!) The highs have been in the 70s and 80s. The lows have been in the 60s. Some days were cloudy. Others were clear and blue and sunny. But either way, it doesn’t matter; it’s just been glorious.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Did you realize there’s only one more Thursday in August after today? No, neither did I. Alas, it would seem that if you want to spend the rest of your summer soaking up the rays and eating barbecue, you’d better get out there this weekend…

Here are three things from my past week that struck me as beautiful:

1. Way back in the spring, Sarah and I went to a yarn festival, where we also bought some soap. Mine has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting for us to need a soap refill — a moment that finally arrived over the weekend. The scent I chose, Fluffy Pajamas, is mild and comforting and makes me extra excited to perform my daily ablutions.

2. Erin McKeown was this evening’s Millennium Stage performer. Since I would gladly pay money to see her (and have), I was delighted that I could get out of work and over to the Kennedy Center in time to catch her set. I’m even more excited to hear that she’ll be performing locally again in October. (Also, you can watch Erin, too, if you’d like in the archived version of her performance.)

3. As I was trying to get some unruly plants to stay in my garden plot rather than straying into the common paths, I looked down and found that one of my plants had grown this:

One of my plants has a baby peanut! I covered it up to keep it nice and toasty until harvest time in the fall.

ETA: I forgot one! I worked from home on Monday waiting for a perishable package that had been mis-routed to Little Rock and delayed. While portions of the experience were frustrating, I was highly impressed when the mail carrier telephoned me to say that she’d seen all the notes I’d left saying I was home but that I clearly wasn’t hearing her knocking on our outside door and could I please come sign for the box. Institutions may sometimes fail, but people come through in the end.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your life this week?

Thursday again! Is it possible they’re coming faster than they used to? Regardless, here are three beautiful things that happened since the last one rolled around:

1. The sound of an entire room reverberating on “om” at the end of a yoga class is magical.

2. Arcade Fire, an 8-member band from Canada, fills up the stage with multiple instruments and people running from one to the next, but it’s honestly one of the most joy-filled stage shows I’ve seen. They whip the crowd up to a frenzy and leave everyone in a happy mood to head home.

3. Rudi and I head to the Circle to enjoy the end of the weekend. I feast on blackberry and coconut gelato, while Rudi opts for yellow peach and watermelon sorbet. As the sun slips down in the sky, we move homeward and are treated to a clear sky filled with a gorgeous sunset of pinks and salmons and oranges.

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Hey, it’s Thursday again! How’d that happen? I suppose I’ve been busy with construction projects and celebrating the downfall of Prop 8 and the confirmation of Elena Kagan… Anyway, here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I work late and then catch the bus home. I get off two stops early so I can walk through Dupont Circle, which is replete with summer night life. A guitarist perches on a stool. Kids play with hula hoops. People are walking and talking and just generally enjoying all that a muggy August night can be.

2. The bed frame takes two late nights of sweating, bickering, and fidgeting with tools and geometry to come together. But the first night’s sleep on it suggests it will be a vast improvement over both our old futon and the mattress plunked on top of the futon, which has been our MO for the last two weeks.

3. Much like last Thursday, a wave of thunderstorms roll through this afternoon and evening. Thunder and lightning are followed by torrents of rain and blustery winds to rival a summer nor’easter back home. But the front shift brings in temperatures that are easily twenty degrees cooler, making the entire city sigh in relief.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world?

I’m home! You’ll probably get three more beautiful things from my vacation tomorrow, but, in meantime, I offer you three beautiful things from today:

1. The first crack of thunder from the lunchtime storm is so loud it echoes through the building. It gives a few minutes’ warning of the impending downpour.

2. Getting caught in the rain when I have nowhere to be tends to make me giddy with delight. A few other foot travelers and I smile conspiratorially as we pass each other. The rain is warm. My front ends up drenched — so sopping wet, in fact, you can see the dollar in my skirt pocket — and my hiking shoes squilch with every step — possibly aided by some puddles that proved too irresistible.

3. The rain has stopped and the sun is reappearing. As I get to Mass Ave., I finally get clear of the trees and low buildings to catch the tail arc of the rainbow that heralds a cooler, drier few days.

ETA: I didn’t even realize yesterday that it was Rain Day. How appropriate!

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the week before vacation:

1. As we were driving up to Rudi’s race on Sunday, yellow butterflies were out in force. It seemed that last week was the time to come out of hibernation.

2. I’m savoring the library’s 100th-anniversary copy of The Wizard of Oz. It has gilt edges and the original illustrations and a book ribbon to mark your place. It makes bedtime seem very special.

3. We’re outta here in the next hour. Vacation rocks!

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Thursday evening was a bit grumbly for me, which meant I missed noting a couple of things that would otherwise have made the list. So in the interest of not forgetting to share them and of getting to sleep sometime tonight, I offer you three more beautiful things from my week:

1. “There’s a new missive. Do you want to hear it?” Rudi always says yes because letters from my friend Elspeth, currently stationed in Kyrgyzstan for the summer, reliably are filled with laughter, knowledge, and a knack for storytelling that makes you feel like you, too, are stuck on a slow-moving bus that may or may not be heading where you want to go with a grandmotherly woman and her chicken. Although this summer’s letters have been, thus far, poultry-free, they combine an old-fashioned read-aloud feeling with Elspeth’s modern and quirky personality to offer some of the most compelling travel literature I’ve read.

2. As I headed out to pick up a late lunch one afternoon this week, I came upon the Curbside Cupcake truck, where there was not yet a block-long line. I waited behind a few people and, when I got to the front, was greeted by Sam like an old friend. “When was the last time I saw you? Are you wearing your galoshes today?” he asks, peeking out of Pinky’s window. I left with a big smile and a vanilla cupcake with raspberry frosting that was absolutely delicious.

3. Our baby blue jay learned to fly! When we left for work on Monday, we knew lift-off was imminent. He could reliably make it up from the bottom of the window well to the bars (to protect our windows from being broken by thieves) over the a/c unit, but he’d been stymied by the bars in his efforts to get further, repeatedly falling behind the bars rather than flying away from them. By the time Rudi got home from work on Monday, the baby was up at street level, doing short flight bursts around the railing outside the house. Rudi says the parents were harassing other pedestrians who stopped to gawk, but let him pass unaccosted. And on Tuesday morning as I sat on the couch finishing my breakfast, our blue jay landed on the top of the window well, cocked his head, chirped, and, after I waved to him, flew away.

So often I’m surprised when Thursday shows up. This week, not so much. It’s been a slow week and I’m glad the weekend is only waiting for one more workday to arrive. But it can’t come before we look back at three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Rudi and I attend a fundraiser at a local hotel that gives us tastings of homemade ice cream. The caramel tastes of butter and burnt sugar. And the mint chocolate chip, made with herbs grown on their back patio, combines a nice mint flavor with bits of shaved chocolate. I refrain from licking out my cups — but only just.

2. The National League won the All-Star Game for the first time since 1996 and the one player representing the Nationals, Matt Capps, got the win after striking out Big Papi. The Mets’ David Wright went 2 for 2 with a stolen base. And for one night, I felt something like appreciation for the Braves and their players.

3. Over the weekend, as I mentioned earlier, we had the good fortune to attend the wedding reception of two good friends. As Phillip got up to give a speech thanking everyone for attending and sharing what good fortune he had to be able to share his life with Susan, his face was alight with love for his new bride. And Susan, sitting at the table next to him, also shone with peace and contentment. It was just one of those moments when everything — and everyone — clicks into the right spot in life and is just where they ought to be.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

A short week which means that I am a bit behind on the correct day of the week. It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Last night there was a weird thunk in the window well, which we assumed was a neighborhood rat. This morning, when screeching awoke us, come to find out that it was a fledgling blue jay who might have left the nest a day or two early. After Rudi’s attempts to lift it up to street level were met with vicious attacks by blue jay parents, we spent the day worrying about the baby’s fate. And this evening, when we returned to find it still alive, if a bit groggy, we tried to figure out a way to get it out of the window well without starring in our own version of The Birds. But, come to find out, fledglings often spend quite a bit of time on the ground before they learn to fly. And the Internets suggest that we just leave it be and it will eventually fly out on its own. Yay for learning things — and for education literally in front of our noses!

2. The Fourth of July in the U.S. means fireworks. We took ours with a serving of national monuments and patriotic music. This year’s display was the best we’ve seen in the seven years we’ve been here and Rudi has the photos to prove it.

3. We caught the final hours of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on Monday afternoon, where the highlight of the three exhibits was definitely Mexico. We learned about tequila. We watched a craftsman casually insert tiny inlays of cedar along the body of a guitar he’d built, hardly even needing to look at what he was doing. And, at the end of the day, we watched four men climb to the top of a hundred foot pole. One of them stood atop the pole, playing his flute, dancing, and jumping to pay respect to the four cardinal directions and then the four, with their festive pink plumed headgear, attached themselves to ropes and spiralled down to the ground in the Danza del Bixom Tíiw, the Dance of the Hawk, which honors the Lord of the Corn. Hillary got photos of the ceremony earlier in the day. The Smithsonian has a video.