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

1. D.C. was in the area of 85% or so coverage during Monday’s solar eclipse. While Rudi traveled with friends down to the path of totality, I took my chances by staying in D.C. Pleasantly, my office got enough eclipse glasses for the staff, so shortly before the time of maximum coverage, my coworkers and I trekked over to the pocket park where we assemble for fire drills, put on our glasses, and were quite impressed:

Those shots — the first two around that maximum coverage point and the last one about an hour later — are taken through my glasses. I was especially pleased with our view after I stepped out an hour later to find it raining (although obviously it then cleared enough to catch that bottom shot). Rudi had a friend who traveled 500+ miles to catch the eclipse in totality only to have it obscured by clouds for exactly those three minutes.

2. Everyone else was away this weekend, so my friend Shawn came over to my side of town and we hung out for the latter part of Saturday.

3. After spending Sunday afternoon at the pool, I really wanted an ice cream cone. That pool is right next to the grocery store, so I decided to buy a box of cones to go with the ice cream we picked up Friday night. And then I decided we needed a container of rainbow sprinkles in which to dip the cones.

(Apologies for the blurriness. The cone was melting really fast!)

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

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to look back on three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Downtown D.C. spends a lot of money on flowers, regularly replanting tree boxes and planters. Last week, these hibiscuses showed up on one block.

2. I’ve mentioned before that since the advent of the inflatable movie screen, outdoor film showings have really taken off. Tonight we headed across town to watch the live action version of Beauty and the Beast with several hundred other fans of Belle. While I don’t know that I loved it as much as the original cartoon, I still liked it quite a bit. And, yes, my heart fluttered a bit in the library scene.

3. We were walking home from a protest rally last Sunday when we discovered one of the fancy French restaurants in the next neighborhood was selling house-made ice cream out front. I might not be able to afford a whole dinner there, but I can definitely afford a couple cones. I mean, check out that weird wafer cone! Mine has a scoop of lemon verbena ice cream and a scoop of black currant sorbet. Both were delicious.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Cooler weather means an open window instead of air conditioning.

2. As I walk home from a cafe, I’m filled with affection for my neighborhood.

3. A night at the ballpark in August where long sleeves are desirable. Who could ask for more?

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. As I mentioned, my friends Amani and Marcus made a small person whom they named Ayinde. We had the pleasure of making his adorable, gurgling, chubby-cheeked acquaintance mere hours before his four-week anniversary.

2. My mother has a gift for growing things, and their house offers many places to do so. July is always a gorgeous time to spend in their yard.

3. A downpour arrived this evening in a zero-to-sixty type race, hung around splashing people for half an hour or so, and then retreated in the face of a double rainbow.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed in the Senate, with Democrats voting as a bloc, with Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski holding firm in their stand against the bill and their party, and with John McCain casting a last-minute surprise no vote. While I know this isn’t really over and that they’ll be back with more, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have it play out this way tonight. I really thought we were going to have a repeat of Election night.

2. A couple weeks ago, Rudi’s laptop died. One friend loaned him a computer, and then a second gave him a like-new laptop that was going to be recycled from his work.

3. A woman on Ravelry was offering local yarn for resale for a very good price, and since she lived nearby, we agreed to meet so I didn’t have to pay for the skein to be shipped. When I arrived at her house she said that she was tired of destashing and would I like to glance through everything else she wanted to get rid of and take them for $1/skein? For less than $20 I came home with six skeins of yarn — mostly silk or alpaca blends — worth probably in the range of $100! (It should be noted that there was plenty of yarn I did not take, too!)

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

I’m having a melancholy evening, so it’s good to think back on my past week and find three of the beautiful things from it:

1. Friends have been sharing the beautiful things going on in their lives — new houses, positive diagnoses, vacations now and in the future — and I’m thrilled for all of them and appreciative that they want to share their good fortune with me.

2. We’ve been watching the Tour de France (as we do every year), and this week has been full of sunflower coverage (they also show castles, churches, naked spectators, and cyclists).

3. Fort Reno is a park built on the grounds of one of D.C.’s Civil War-era fortifications, is the highest point in the city and home to a decades-old summer punk concert series. This makes it an excellent spot to watch unencumbered summer sunsets while bands perform for free. Monday evening got an positive rating for weather, view, and music, all of which outdid themselves.

and a bonus:

4. Rudi trimmed off the beard he grew after his surgery.

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