Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Blueberry picking the day after a substantial rainfall is a very satisfying thing because it’s usually a relatively easy harvest. Apparently not many people want to go out in the mud.

2. I started listening to Aristotle and Dante Dive into the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz while driving out to the farm today. It’s read by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also read the first book.

3. I wore a pair of red wicking underwear under my oatmeal-colored shorts to play volleyball in and discovered that they turned significant patches of my shorts pink. Rudi took to them with some Oxiclean yesterday morning, and got the stains out for me.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The grove next to the District of Columbia War Memorial was filled with fireflies.

2. Our volleyball team made significant improvements as the season went on and ended up making the semi-finals. Then, after some snacks, we went on to win our opening match of the summer season.

3. We got the chance to preview Brian and Charles, a sweet movie about an awkward British tinkerer who invents a sentient robot. If you like stories about friendship and letting relationships grow, please track this one down.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I had a book on hold for me at the main library branch here in D.C., which I had yet to properly explore since it fully reopened. I picked up my book plus an impulse pick off the new fiction shelf, bought a tea from the cafe for a mere $2, and took myself up to the new rooftop terrace, a garden oasis five stories above the street. While lying on a bench next to a patch of lamb’s-ear, getting acquainted with a new character, I was hit with such a wave of fondness for this city, where they value libraries so highly as to conceive of this haven for their residents.

2. The first sweet cherries of the year

3. We finally shifted some things so we could slot an old bookshelf into a new spot and fill it with books that had been sitting in bags.

Whats’ been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. English peas eaten straight from the garden

2. Cygnets and ducklings at Constitution Garden

3. Refrigerator jam

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

Honestly, it’s been a hard week for all of us. But these are the weeks when we have to find the things that give us light. Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My Saturday volleyball league is helmed by a really nice guy, John, who brought a case of water with him and made sure we paused in between sets to cool off in the shade and rehydrate on the hottest day of the year so far. Plus, he carried that water and a volleyball net plus a solar charging pad, battery, and other assorted odds and ends to the field on his scooter.

2. As I was walking to the farmers market yesterday, I passed a cyclist who looked to be about my mother’s age. His bike was outfitted with spoke beads and a music speaker, and he was sporting a velour duster and a blue mohawk bike helmet.

3. My brother and brother-not-in-law are visiting the northeast this week, and my brother texted me a photo of them and my parents together.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A friend who’d been out of work for a while started a new job this morning.

2. A friend who had a baby last month sent new photos of her daughter.

3. I spent the evening at the park reading amidst the irises.

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