How did it get to be quarter to four in the morning? I could have sworn it was just two… Anyway, before I load up my iPod, finish my packing, and head to bed for a few minutes to get a little shuteye pre-flight, I thought I’d better offer up three beautiful things from the past week:

1. The Dupont escalators have been particularly bad this last week, often with none of them working. (In case anyone’s forgotten, the rise-to-run ratio of the stationary escalator makes it more difficult to climb than normal stairs. Plus, it’s something like three stories straight up…) I come across an older woman who probably ought to have waited for an elevator. A 20-something man has taken her rolly bag from her already and pauses to offer her an additional hand. “Lean on me,” he urges, blocking traffic from shoving past her. “It’ll make it easier.” At the top, he hands her bag back to her and wanders off.

2. Walking back from the bank last Friday, I see snowdrops blooming by the Smithsonian. This week, bulbs are starting to push their shoots through the ground, and the corner house has forsythia blooming by their stairs.

3. The last few weeks the flower vendor at the farmers’ market has had tulips for sale. I always pick an assortment to sit in a vase atop our refrigerator. This week’s bouquet was a frilly yellow one, a restrained magenta one, and one that’s yellow with bright fiery red-orange tips.