Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My fall volleyball team finished up its season with a loss, a trip to the bar, and the promise of playing together again in January when the season starts back up at that location. We aren’t a great team, or even good, really, but we enjoy ourselves and each other, and are a supportive team. (I have a new team that I’ll play with for the next six weeks and an offer from our team captain to play pick-up volleyball at her school after work on Tuesdays.)

2. Working in stockinette in the round and re-reading a favorite book (Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets, the illustrated edition) work well together. I don’t need to look at my work, and I know what happens in the story, so it is less urgent that I turn the page *right this minute*, rather than after I get to the end of the needle, but I make lots of progress because I don’t get bored.

3. Between a costume contest at my office and handing out candy on our stoop, I saw a number of great outfits this Halloween. My favorites were the gender bending Mary Poppins and chimney-sweep Bert (apparently the young woman ordered the Mary Poppins costume online only to find when it arrived that it was far too long for her petite frame and her male friend was game to switch things up); Sesame Street‘s The Count, who had spats, fancy glasses, and numbers on a string and who did the laugh on request (her officemates were Bert and Kermit); and a boy dressed as Edgar Allen Poe, complete with fake raven and quill pen.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. As I was riding to my volleyball game, I saw a shooting star. (If I’d taken the bus, I would have missed it.)

2. I walked up to order a sandwich at the bakery/grilled cheese stand, and the cook handed one to me fresh off the grill.

3. Someone took the time to send in a note via our work website comment form thanking us for a resource we’d created and telling us what his favorite parts were.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Dunkin’ at the airport was out of black tea, but they didn’t realize that until after I’d paid. They gave me a cup of hot water, because I always have tea bags in my bag, and threw in a couple extra doughnuts for my trouble.

2. I have no team still in baseball contention, but as a New England girl, I’m glad the Red Sox have made the World Series again.

3. My dad is home and doing well, and I look forward to seeing how much better he’s feeling when I’m home again at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My outdoor volleyball game was the early one, so it was neither rained on nor called for darkness. And then one of the teams in the late game had a couple tardy players, so I got to offer to fill in until they arrived.

2. On our drive home, we were on a back road trying to get around some heavy traffic when Rudi discovered we were near a local doughnut shop, Donut Crazy, so we stopped in and bought a half dozen to try. Their chocolate glazed hearkened back to the way Dunkin’ Donuts made them when I was a kid (when their name included the thing they actually focused their attention on).

3. There were two maple trees along the highway — one in full technicolor glory and the second just about to enter it, in the moment where green turns to red that New Englanders know means fall is truly here.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Trying a new ice cream shop. Brown sugar baked pear? Yum!

2. Both street festivals I attended on Sunday had great music in common at their stages — Caribbean and Turkish beats — perfect for getting the crowds moving.

3. I finally painted my nails again — this time in autumnal hues.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Changing out of sopping wet clothes after getting caught in the rain.

2. Spending an afternoon with one of my oldest friends.

3. Collapsing into bed after nearly 10 miles of walking and eight hours on my feet.

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