Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The staff at the Moroccan embassy leaves food and water out for the local wildlife. During the rain, a particularly plump sparrow is waiting its turn for the food while sheltering under a security spotlight.

2. I found a recipe for a coconut curry tomato soup I wanted to eat and procured all the ingredients needed except for panang curry paste. We stopped in vain at two major grocery stores, before an employee in the Asian foods aisle at the third gave Rudi a link to the recipe she uses to make her own.

3. Sarah, John, Nicole, Rudi, and I headed into the countryside over the weekend for our annual apple-picking adventure. I found us a new farm to try way out in Virginia, complete with what those of us who’ve lived in the northeast deemed the best cider doughnuts in the region, which mostly made up for the expensive way they had of selling apples. To celebrate a day of fruit and non-rain, we stopped for supper at the converted mill where we all dined two years ago. Tasty food and drinks helped conclude the trip.

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