Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. On Tuesday night, we had tickets to the ballgame, which meant we had an up-close and personal (but dry!) view as the clouds wildly dumped buckets of water down on D.C. Our vantage point meant we missed both the sight (although not the sound) of lightning hitting a crane across the street from the ballpark and the rainbow, but as the storm subsided we did get to watch as the skies went from looking like this:

to looking like this:

2. A fluffy sparrow fledgling ends up stuck in the window well for a while. We watch while the cats realize the bird is at stalking level, the baby bird realizes the cat is looming just over its shoulder Sylvester-style, and the bird parents start screaming instructions at their child and invectives at our pets (I assume). At that point, Rudi disassembled a cardboard box to block the cat-eye view and to give the bird a chance to pull itself together and fly out (which it eventually did).

3. I had a cool, clear, and pleasant night to myself, so after knitting class, I walked over to the library to pick up a few holds and followed it up with gelato (no lines! empty tables outside!) and starting my reading streetside. I then pedaled home via a surprisingly flat route through Georgetown.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Not setting up the picnic blanket until after the last blast of rain passes means that I stay relatively dry throughout the showing of Princess Bride.

2. A sparrow takes a vigorous dirt bath on a hot, dry evening.

3. The first tomato of the year in the garden has started to turn from green to orange.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A letter arrives from an old friend when I’m feeling blue. He tells me of the man in his life and his new house and his travel plans, and it all seems like a happily ever after ending.

2. One of Rudi’s friends gets married and invites us to the wedding. As part of the entertainment, his dad has built a croquet set and beanbags, and they’ve bought a bocce set. I lose to Rudi twice at beanbags, but we must come pretty close to even at bocce.

3. Karen telephones and we get to catch up for a couple of hours.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I pick a full quart of strawberries out of my garden.

2. Sarah and I go to a local farm to pick berries with her sister-in-law and her eldest nephew. Among their animal residents, they have two baby goats who elicit oohs and ahhs from us all.

3. Rudi’s mother’s phone is out and has been for a week. We hear from several concerned friends of hers who aren’t able to reach her, and we’re all glad we can reassure them that it’s nothing more serious. (We are also highly grateful to her friends who tracked her down for us, when we realized something wasn’t right.)

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I get the chance to watch two movies outdoors this week: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dirty Dancing.

2. Arriving at the farmers market in the final minutes has its perks: the bakery stand where I pick up something for breakfast asks if they can give me some free cookies. Why, yes, you may.

3. I tend not to like to inquire about things and have been known to just let them go, rather than pick up the phone, send the email, or approach a person. This time, though, I finally get up the guts to ask and am now signed up for a class that starts next week.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Although my dad broke his pelvis, he managed to do so in a way that will not require surgery, knock on wood.

2. Dinner and milkshakes with my friend Amani.

3. The final episode of The Late Show with David Letterman marked the end of an era in late-night tv. I loved his final few weeks of shows and the tributes from his fellow late night hosts.

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