Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. Whipped cream in the office fridge for my cocoa on a cold, rainy morning

2. The way lights reflect on wet pavement. It seems like the colorful reflections of store signs, stop lights, and car brake lights stretch out forever in a carnival-like atmosphere.

3. You can’t say the Cardinals and the Mets haven’t made it an interesting playoff series. Tonight’s game will decide it all — and you know which way I’m hoping it will go….

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. My folks built their first fire of the season Saturday night. The flames crackled and flared and sent the delicious scent of burning wood wafting into the corners of the house.

2. The Mets swept the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. I feel good about how they played, but I also don’t think the Cards are going to roll over without a fight in the NLCS series that begins tonight.

3. Rudi and I normally drive up to Connecticut after work on a Friday night in order to maximize our time there. However, although we wanted this visit to be a surprise, it would not have been a nice surprise for my family if we’d arrived unannounced at 2 a.m. So we headed up Saturday morning instead. It’s amazing how a drive that you’ve made a hundred times can look utterly different when you make it at a different time of day. Who knew that the ride was so lovely?

I don’t have anything on the needles right now.

Admit it — you just gave a little gasp right then, didn’t you?

Strictly speaking, of course, it’s not entirely true. There are a couple of wraps on big gahonkin’ needles tucked away, waiting for it to really cool off again. I mean, they’re mohair. That’s just not 80 degree knitting.

Oh, and there is that half-finished washcloth that I saw when I went into the knitting basket tonight….

There are several projects not yet done: The Daisy baby sweater that needs another sleeve. The purse I knit up earlier this week that needs to be blocked and assembled. The sock I finished tonight that needs its end sewn in and the hole in its gusset minimized.

There are projects in the wings: A second blue sock. A reknit hat. Socks. Christmas presents.

But there’s nothing on the needles to take with me to work tomorrow. How disturbing is that? Let’s hope I don’t resort to drastic measures like this knitter.

And tomorrow night? You’ll find me hunkered down on the couch with a new project on my needles and the Mets game on tv. We apparently just eked out a win in this afternoon’s game, but a win is a win is a win in the playoffs. I’m sure tomorrow’s game will be great!

I don’t normally root against the Mets, but I’d like to see them lose today. I want Nationals manager Frank Robinson to have a win for the final game of his 50-year career.

Robinson was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1956 when he came up with Cincinnati as an outfielder. He was later shifted to first base. His years with the team were marked by his hard play and his hot temper. He spent a decade with the Reds, during which time he earned a Gold Glove and was named League MVP.

He then was traded to Baltimore, where he spent the next six years of his career. He led the team to their first pennants and World Series. He became the first player to win the League MVP Award in both leagues when he was named the AL’s MVP. He also was voted MVP of the All-Star game, the World Series, and the Major League. In addition, he was presented with the Babe Ruth Award and was the penultimate winner of the Triple Crown for batting. He also was awarded the Hickok Belt for being the top athlete in any sport in 1966.

Robinson played for five more seasons, shuffling from the O’s to the Dodgers to the Angels.

In 1974, the Indians acquired him on waivers with the understanding that he would become a player-manager (and the first African American manager in Major League Baseball). He finally retired from playing in 1976 as a 41-year-old 12-time All-Star. He continued on as manager for the Indians for another year.

He returned in 1981 to coach the Giants for four years before taking another three years off.

In 1982, Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In 1988, he took over the helm for his old club, Baltimore, for four years. In 1989, he was named Manager of the Year.

In 2002, after a decade away from the game, Robinson came back one last time, to coach the Montreal Expos. He moved south with them to become the first manager of the new Washington Nationals last year, where he led them on a fairy-tale first half of the season. Injuries plagued the team, however, and the second half of 2005 and all of 2006 has seen the team not play as well as one might have hoped. The team’s lack of non-MLB ownership was also seen as a contributing factor to their lack of success because they were not able to be as competitive when pursuing free agents in the off-season.

Robinson, who won a Presidential Medal of Freedom last November, never complained, though, and was seen by many of his players as a tough, but fair and loving authority figure. A former Director of Discipline for MLB, he didn’t tolerate messing around and wasn’t afraid to yank players if he felt they were messing around or dogging it. But he was also remarkably supportive to players who needed it and players speak of him with tears in their eyes.

No, Robinson is not a fantastic manager when you look at the numbers. He is sub-.500 with each of the teams he’s coached. But he was respected by players and fans alike, and I would have liked to give him one more year with the team to prove what he could do with the independent ownership’s acquisitions in the off-season.

And if the support for him I saw at RFK Stadium Friday night is any indication, I’m not the only one who thought that.

So good luck, today, Frank. Do not hobble gentle into that dark night. I hope you beat the Mets. And saying that doesn’t come easily.

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. There is nothing better than coming home from a trip. Walking in the door and being met by three cats who absolutely adore you is incomparable. They want nothing more than to sit on you to prevent you from ever leaving again (unless it’s to buy them some more cat food, of course).

2. The Mets have been playing remarkably well this year. Right now they have the best record in baseball and last night they became the first team to reach 90 wins for the season. It used to be that I’d go places wearing my Mets cap and people would greet me with sympathetic looks. This year, I’m greeted with, “How about those Mets?” Even in Salt Lake! It’s a nice feeling to be at the top for once.

3. Washington, D.C., is a Democratic city. 74% of registered voters are signed up as Democrats. We’re so Democratic, it’s a law that the City Council has to have two members of a “non-majority” party just so that it’s fair. So when the primary rolls around, essentially you’re electing the person who is going to assume power. This year we had two major positions open up — mayor and city council chairperson. Adrian Fenty, who is only a few years older than I, won the Democratic nod for mayor. He has a vision for where the city should go from here that many people think is exciting. And Vince Gray, formerly the executive director of Covenant House, won the primary for council chair, offering hope that the next iteration of the council will consider ways to attract businesses and to provide services to low-income families simultaneously. I didn’t vote for either of the two winners, but I am excited that they bring fresh blood and enthusiasm to their positions. May they help to keep D.C. a nice place to live.

The weekend was fun, as hoped for, and it was nice to see Mum and Dad. I miss living nearby.

The Mets didn’t manage to win the game on Friday, but I suppose I can’t ask for everything. The game offered up a pitching duel and had I been less sleepy, I probably would have enjoyed the art of it more. As it was, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open during the middle three innings or so.

The concert last night was terrific. The weather was lovely — a bit cool, but clear, with a yellow moon that rose late in the show through the trees. Peter, Paul, and Mary are definitely getting older and they started off a bit shaky, but they seemed to gain steam as they went along. They sang some songs that i wasn’t familiar with (although I think Mum sang along with them all) and they sang others that I could warble along with. Peter and Paul were definitely being protective of Mary, who is recovering from bone marrow cancer and seemed physically fragile (although she did move a chair around stage). Over the course of the show, her voice grew stronger and the trio ended as loud and harmonic as they must have been 45 years ago. The concert was political (as you would expect with PPM), but the overall feeling was one of optimism — that there was nothing that was too awful to fix if only we’d start now — and the crowd appreciated it. Especially me.

This afternoon I went for a bike ride. Rudi had re-inflated my tires to their proper and intended pressure, so I was utterly miserable as I felt every bump and rock I rode over. (In Rudi’s defense, my tires held less than half the pressure they were supposed to and probably would have popped when I rode over one of those many rocks in the trail. I would have been very grumpy if I’d had to walk the bike home 8 miles.) The highlight of the ride was spying an osprey eating a fish in a tree. The other cyclist who noticed it identified it for me and told me that osprey are rarely seen that close to a populated area. It was a huge bird and I’m glad that I got to see it.

This week holds a lot of activity. In addition to crunch time at work, I have lots of things planned for the evenings. Wednesday night we have another ball game (this time against the Braves). Thursday night we have been invited to Pat and Heidi’s for dinner so we can meet the twins. Friday we’re contemplating a WNBA game, since the Mystics take on the Connecticut Sun in their first post-season game of the year. Rudi is lobbying to fit Restaurant Week in there tomorrow night, but I’m not convinced that would be a good idea. I do have to fit some sleep in there someplace!