Three beautiful things from the week before the unofficial start to the summer season:

1. After weeks of grey skies and rain in the D.C. area (19 of the first 23 days of the month featured rain), the sun emerged and we’ve now had three whole days in a row of blue skies.

2. The Mets not only win the game we attend at Nationals Park on Monday in a decisive victory, but also finish the series up 2-1 to pull back within two games of the league lead. The Nats’ ex-Met second-baseman, Daniel Murphy, saw his team-leading batting average go up during the series, as well, so it’s a win all around.

3. Poor sales, discounted tickets, and good luck led us to see the Peter Tork/Micky Dolenz Monkees show this evening. We sang along to old favorites, laughed at some antics, and enjoyed some new songs off the album (with Mike Nesmith) that drops tomorrow.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The vendor from whom I buy my Street Sense, the local homeless newspaper, shares that one of the farmers at our market is going to employ him for the summer and that if it works out, it might turn into something more permanent. Earlier this year, he got an apartment, so I’m thinking 2016 is his year.

2. Rudi and I go out to dinner for his birthday, courtesy of a gift certificate from my brother and his partner. We eat extravagantly, but only have to pay for tax and tip.

3. Rebs calls at midnight (because, as old friends, she knows we are up) to wish Rudi a happy birthday, and then when he’s done, she and I get to chat.

Bonus: I’ve mentioned before, I think, that Corey sometimes likes to bring his toys to bed to keep himself occupied while we sleep. Usually they’re straws or twist ties, but this morning I awoke to find Rudi’s Teva, last seen just before bed on the other side of the apartment, lying next to me.

How about you? What was beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The rose bush in our community garden is blooming. I liberate a bud and bring it home, where it’s been making my kitchen pretty.

2. Rudi bakes strawberry-rhubarb crisp for dessert.

3. My volleyball team won its final regular season game.

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

If it’s Thursday, it’s time to think back on three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Last Saturday night, I ran my phone battery down until it turned off and then I plugged it in. Little did I realize that would be the last thing the phone would do, forcing me into a phone upgrade by initiating a boot loop sequence it could not escape. After several days of hemming and hawing without a cell, I splurged and purchased a current model, the Samsung Galaxy S7. Since I get a good number of years out of my phones, I figure it was worth it to spend the money on a phone that’s worth more than the trade-in value of my car. I haven’t had it long enough to form any strong opinions, but none of them have been negative yet, and it’s fun to have a new toy to set up and play with.

2. Last Saturday was Independent Bookstore Day and I treated it as the holiday that it is. D.C. is now home to five indie shops that sell new books and I made a point of it to visit all of them, including East City Bookshop on Capitol Hill, which opened on Saturday. I came home with several new books including a couple collections of poetry, a French- and English-language collection of fables, and a collection of essays about bad-ass women through history edited by a D.C. librarian.

3. It’s been a week of mostly rain and clouds, so it was especially nice when the sun peeked out on occasion — and even lovelier when I was outdoors when it happened.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. A fresh pair of contact lenses.

2. The first flip-flop days of the year — and painted toenails to emphasize them.

3. A rainy day means lots of strawberries still left late at the market and, therefore, a sale on flats. I take home a dozen gorgeous and tasty pints for $2 apiece.

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

Three beautiful things from this past week:

1. Swayed by a sign pointing the way to the local beach, Rudi and I made a surprise ten-minute stop at Savin Rock in West Haven, where we admired the full moonrise over the ocean and I dipped my toes in the chilly water. (I’ll post a picture tomorrow. I don’t want to get out of bed to get my phone.)

2. A letter arrives from a college friend from the Philippines and a postcard from Rhode Island.

3. My Bikeshare fob (a plastic sandwich with a computer chip dot as its meager filling) came apart six months ago and I’ve been using a hair elastic to keep it held together since then. (I should note here that Bikeshare would totally replace it for free if I told them about it. Which I will. At some point.) Last Sunday, as I heading into work, I realized the elastic had gotten yanked off the fob and the chip, which is smaller than my pinkie nail, was gone. A couple days later, Rudi looked down just outside the apartment door and saw my chip lying on the ground, unsquashed. It’s back in the fob and working once more.

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