1. I had the chance to see Paddington 2 earlier this week, and highly recommend you do so, too. Like the first movie, this film has a luminous cast who give strong performances, a solid script aimed at both youngsters and those young at heart, and gags and jokes that remain funny without tipping over into stupid, crass, or childish. (The first film is streaming on Netflix and I assume it’s available in other places, including on dvd at your local library.)
2. For his Russian Christmas present, I invited Rudi, who grew up in Salt Lake following his local basketball team, to watch the Jazz play the Wizards this week. While there were several moments of grace and gravity defiance on the court, the game really was marked by a lack of attention to detail, a seeming dislike for running plays or covering offensive boards, and, on the Jazz’s part, an inability to pay attention to the shot clock — all of which was mind-boggling to someone who follows the high caliber of the UConn women’s basketball team. And, yet, the game was surprisingly close and, in the end, the Jazz prevailed, so we counted the evening — and the gift — a success.
3. My coworker, who hosts a short weekday radio program in which he interviews scientists doing current research, celebrated its 30th year on the air this week. A colleague organized a surprise party for him, including several top muckety-mucks from our organization, but he’d decided to go cover an event without telling anyone, which meant that he had to be lured back to the office through subterfuge with increasingly urgent emails and texts telling him there were potential funders waiting to meet him. He flew into the office in a bit of a panic and stopped, dumbfounded, when we all shouted, “Surprise!”
How about you? what’s been beautiful in your world lately?
1. I sent Rudi, who had to work this week, home in an airplane on Tuesday so I, who had the week off, could have a couple extra days in Connecticut with my folks and a chance to spend an afternoon with my best friend, Karen. I’ll have to drive home alone tomorrow, which will totally have been worth it. Plus, if I’m by myself I get to listen to only the things I want to hear.
2. Connecticut has been hit in quick succession by ice, snow, and, now, the cold snap enveloping the East Coast. This means it’s gorgeous, if freezing, out right now, with glittering trees and snowy expanses of fields. My parents’ yard was particularly picturesque on Christmas Day, when it looked like we were celebrating in the middle of a Currier & Ives painting.
3. My parents live at the top of a long, hilly driveway, which drops off on one side into the surrounding woods. Getting up it in the winter, particularly in my 25-year-old car, can be a little dicey, so each time it’s skidded back from the ice to the pavement and revved its way over the steep curves, I have been truly grateful.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
Pausing in the packing and cleaning to get a couple posts up.
Here are three beautiful things from my past week:
1. Both my orchids have decided to bloom early this year. This week, the first buds on my second plant (which usually holds off until January) opened, which I thought was awfully nice of it, since I was going to be out of the office all next week.
2. Rudi was in New York City last week and before he caught his bus home he headed to the village to the shop where we buy our tea and picked up a couple types we were out of, which means I’ll still have favorite options in January, when I expected to have to opt between Darjeeling, Earl Grey, and Lapsang for every cup. (I like all of them, just not as much as Irish breakfast or Assam right now.)
3. In an age of climate change-induced disasters, it feels wrong to list a couple days of sunny and warm December days as beautiful. But it’s really hard not to appreciate them (and the ability to wear short sleeves and a jean jacket) when you know winter and its attendant weather is imminent.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
Category: three beautiful things. There is/are Comments Off on flowering, replenishing, and warm.
This was a week chock full of beautiful things, so I’m cheating by sharing three things and three photos. Hey, my blog, my rules!
1. It snowed on Saturday pretty much all day long, but never really stuck to roadways or sidewalks, which meant we got to enjoy it without having to do any shoveling, which is really the most you can ask for from snow. There have also been some conversational snow flurries during the work week.
2. Our friends Susan and Phillip invited us to join them for the free tuba Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center. Since this is now a ticketed event, it was really nice of them to offer to pick up the tickets while Rudi and I were still at our respective offices. Plus, while Rudi (who missed last year’s concert when the change was first made) questioned the moving of the concert out of the great hall and into one of the theaters, his face when he saw tuba players (tubaists? tubers?) not only on the stage but also ringing the room on the balconies was full of joy.
3. Lin-Manuel Miranda announced today he’s giving us a year of “Hamildrops,” new Hamilton-themed content to come out once a month! December’s, which has provided the theme music for tonight’s blog writing, is “Ben Franklin’s Song,” performed by The Decemberists (whose lead singer, Colin Meloy, penned the melody). Should swearing be outside your comfort zone (in which case I might imagine Hamilton to be so as well, but your mileage may vary), there is also apparently a clean version, but I can’t imagine a better, more cathartic chorus than “Do you know who the fuck I am? I am Poor Richard’s Almanack-writing Benjamin fucking Franklin!?”
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
If it’s Thursday, it’s time to look back at the past week and highlight three moments of beauty (and to share them as part of Carole’s Three on Thursday:
1. Apparently we were good this past year, because Krampus did not carry us off in his sack and St. Nicholas filled our shoes with goodies. He left me hot cocoa mix and chocolate bars, and Rudi found M&M’s, socks, and coffee in his. He always knows what we like.
2. I’d gone back and forth on whether it would make January even more painful than usual, but I decided this week to book off all the Fridays this month to give myself leisurely long weekends leading up to the holidays. Last Friday involved sleeping in and getting a jump on holiday party prep. I suspect tomorrow will also involve going back to bed after Rudi leaves and then writing some Christmas cards, possibly doing some shopping, and maybe getting an early seat at the fire pit that’s opened up on the patio of the fancy grocery store/bar in our neighborhood. Luxury!
3. I didn’t find my hand knit Christmas socks with the other woolens after Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d forgotten them up in Connecticut and wouldn’t get to wear them again until we went up at Christmas. Today, though, Rudi came across them in the laundry pile. Hooray!
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
