The blog was being grumpy last night and wasn’t letting me post, so our usual Thursday post is appearing today instead.

It has been an action-packed week, which has left me with little time or energy for posting. I’m hoping to get caught back up again when we return home on Sunday. But in the meantime, here are a few highlights (written before I head out for a swim), in the form of three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The leaves in the Wasatch Mountains outside of Salt Lake City have started changing, which offered us beautiful scenery for a drive yesterday. At one point, we were standing in a golden aspen grove and it began to rain, the falling water causing the leaves to whisper together. I was pretty sure if I just looked at the right spot, I’d see fairies joining hands to dance.

2. Sandra Cisneros, author of the lovely The House on Mango Street, read her new story/adult picturebook, Marie, to us at the National Book Festival. It was about a lost cat and a lost mother. I cried, but at the same time, I kind of wished that she would come read me bedtime stories.

3. This trip has been filled with a lot of outdoor time, with leisurely breakfasts outdoors and snacks in the sunshine. I feel like I’m stocking up on Vitamin D for the gloomier days to come.

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