Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I was along the river as the sun set last Friday, allowing me to see a spectacular view over Rosslyn. My shots here give you an idea of the colors, but Flickr mutes reds terribly, so just know it was even more breathtaking in person.

2. I passed the Mexican Embassy while out walking today and noticed for the first time a sign informing me it was housed in part of what had once been known as “The Seven Buildings,” which had served as home, over time, to the Declaration of Independence, the Department of State, and President and First Lady Madison, as they waited for the White House to be rebuilt after the War of 1812. The sign has been there for the past 8 years, but today was the first time I saw it, which I love, because it means there’s always something new to be seen, even if it isn’t new.

3. While stopping by the library earlier this week, I saw a person on a bicycle laden down with packages and helium balloons, clearly en route to a celebration. There were at least a dozen balloons and maybe closer to two, and the cyclist was having a hard time maneuvering while keeping the balloons from floating back into her view. After futzing with them at the red light, though, she finally got all the strings tucked under her arms and was able to carry on her way. (This now tops my previous most interesting cycling sight of the month, which was when I saw a young woman using her bike as a dolly to carry a seven foot Christmas tree from the farmers market to home on her own.)

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. St. Nicholas stopped by last night, and we must have been pretty good this year because he left behind candy and a Harry Potter ornament for me and candy and some kitchen knives for Rudi.

2. I mailed my first Christmas card this week, which only bodes well for the rest of them, just as soon as I figure out where the stamps disappeared to during the great Christmas party cleanup.

3. Speaking of which, Rudi found my Mets cap, which was missing for the entirety of the 2018 season. I blame its absence for their performance, because in order to be a true baseball fan for the team that’s home to the Cy Young winner you have to believe it’s your headwear choices, rather than their playing, right?

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

Three beautiful things from the week after Thanksgiving:

1. Dad sends me home with Eric Clapton, Monkees, John Legend, and Ingrid Michaelson Christmas cds.

2. Rudi was covering ski racing in Vermont last weekend, which meant we were not driving home Sunday night when the Delaware Memorial Bridge, one of the major north-south bridges on the Atlantic seaboard, closed for six hours due to a chemical spill. It was major enough that my brother, who lives in Los Angeles, heard about it on the news.

3. Jeremiah, our shy senior citizen cat, came out for the pet sitter, at least by the end of our time away. He texted me a photo to say he’d won Jer over with food and “pleasant banter.”

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

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful holiday surrounded by or in touch with your loved ones and were able to partake in a delicious meal.

Rudi and I made it to my folks’ house just before dawn and I have spent all day drowsing uselessly in between meals. I’m calling it an early night in the hopes of starting tomorrow feeling more energetic.

But before I do, I wanted to share three beautiful things from my past week:

1. As you remember, I got myself lost on Sunday and had to call Rudi and check the maps on my phone in order to get home. If that had happened when I was 20, I would have had to call him from a pay phone and he would have needed to find my location on an atlas.

2. Our longtime cat sitter retired to another state, so we had to find another one. I got a photo of Corey texted to me this afternoon by the fellow who is feeding them this weekend.

3. Both the moonset this morning and the sunset this afternoon were spectacular.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A rainy stroll home includes several blocks (and a stop at the vet’s) with a woman walking two Staffordshire Terriers wearing matching rubber ducky raincoats (the dogs, not the woman).

2. A tiny infant strapped to a woman via a baby carrier is wearing a gigantic stripey hat with a bright pompom.

3. I stop at a biscuit restaurant (what? this is the south.) at teatime, where for a little while I’m the only customer. They have the music cranked and the young woman who waited on me at the counter is working on getting her coworkers to get down and dance to the ’80s funk playing over the speakers. They’re such a cheerful bunch that I leave in an excellent mood.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. No job means I don’t have to get up early right now, so I don’t.

2. People have been very kind in offering their support and suggestions of places I might apply for a new job.

3. We’ve seen three movies in the past week (two for cheap; one for free). I didn’t love them all, but I love getting to go to the theater. We’ll be back next Friday at the latest for the new Fantastic Beasts film’s opening night.

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