Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Most of my volleyball teammates and I went out after the game. One exchange elicited the sort of uproarious laughter that leads to tears. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed that hard.

2. Another cyclist and I pass on the multi-use trail. He has a pug riding in each pannier.

3. As I was biking home tonight, there was just the slimmest sliver of a waxing crescent moon off to the west. (If you click through to Flickr, you can make the picture bigger. I’m down near the Capitol in the shot and you can see the lower part of the Washington Monument through the trees at the bottom left. Also, a couple of those sprinklers over the Mall were really misaligned. I did not make it past dry.)

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

Although the Zoom fatigue is real in my life, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tune into a reading by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins hosted by the Folger Shakespeare Library earlier this week. This is the poem he closed with:

For the third time in 14 months, I’ve gone to a restaurant and sat on their patio with other people.

The first time was for Sarah’s birthday last month, and we hadn’t yet been vaccinated. People’s interpretation of “wear a mask except when you’re eating or drinking” was too lax for my taste, so I told Rudi I wouldn’t be repeating the experiment until I’d had a shot.

Last week, post-shot #2, I went out for drinks after my volleyball game. I didn’t yet have full immunity, but given the latest info on outdoor spread, I decided I could take the chance.

Tonight, Sarah and I went out for pizza. We talked about her garden and past work evaluations (we’ve both worked places where they’ve asked supervisors not to rank employees as “excellent” on their annual reviews) and upcoming travel (she’s going to go see one of her oldest friends next month; I’m going to see my family later in May). It was so … normal.

I’m not ready to eat indoors yet. But it is a nice feeling to be comfortable eating outside again, particularly as we’re about to head into the time of year when that’s nicest.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01 a.m. Monday, May 10, and runs through Sunday, May 16, in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 31 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Once again I’ve joined up with the folks at Bout of Books, this time for their 31st readathon, spanning the course of ten years.

My goals for the readathon are two simple ones. I’d like to finish the audiobook I’m listening to, Abby Collette’s A Deadly Inside Scoop, and I’d like to finish one of the three graphic novels I have out of the library. I mean, I’d love to finish seven books over the week, but I have to work and things like that, so I thought I should keep things manageable.

And if neither of those goals happen, that will be fine too. After all, there’s no failing in Bout of Books; there’s just, occasionally, flailing.

Want to see what’s flourishing in the garden this week? In addition to my greens (I filled a gallon-sized bag), here’s what’s thriving in my plot:

Snapdragons

Strawberries (we don’t want them to turn red too fast; otherwise Rudi will miss out)

Peas

Celery

Swiss chard

Potatoes

Today wasn’t the most productive day, but there’s always hope for tomorrow, right?

There are definitely some things I’d like to cross off my mental to-do list this month in addition to the key one, which was to get my second COVID shot. But I’d also like to:

• See my family
• Clean my apartment, so I can have the pet sitter come
• Plant tomatoes
• Find my swimsuit (it might be in my travel bag, since I was on travel two weeks before the world shut down), so I can swim at the pool once it’s open
• Celebrate Rudi’s birthday when he gets home

I mean there are definitely others, like spend time with friends, socialize with my volleyball team, and be outside as much as possible. But those are the main five.

Are there things you’re still hoping to do this month?