I’m back in Salt Lake today, sitting at a cafe for a few more minutes before the yarn store opens up. Tonight we’ll have a dinner out with an ailing Jenny before packing up and heading back east tomorrow afternoon.

I’m not sure I’ll get to post tomorrow, but, if not, definitely expect something new Tuesday. In honor of such a beautiful morning spent outside (after a sunny day spent outside yesterday netted me a slightly pink nose for Rudi’s reunion), I offer you three beautiful things from my Friday:

1. A man on a recumbent bike rides in the bike lane with his small black poodle on a leash running alongside.

2. A violet patch next to a walkway to a nondescript cement building acts as a temporary burst of color.

3. A tree along my walk boasts a medallion. A bottlecap has been painted cheery colors and hangs from a bead-bedecked string. Inside, tiny ransom note-style words read, “This is Zen.”

What’s been beautiful in your world recently?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Last week, when leaving the office way too late, I decide the bus/walking will be faster than taking a late-night train. The bus passes me at Farragut Square, but I catch up to it at the K Street light. I knock on the door to see if the driver will let me on, but she shakes her head and points up a block to the next stop. We leave the light at the same time, but the bus arrives far sooner than I do. When I see the bus door close, I slow my trot down, figuring I’d just have to walk the rest of the way. But the driver re-opens the door to signal that she’s stilll waiting for me.

2. Being so far from Rudi’s mom (who has no other relations) means some challenges for us. Yet, her friends care deeply for her and share some of our concerns, so it’s good to know that they’re also looking out for her and at a closer proximity.

3. On Sunday, as I’m driving to pick up Sarah for our yarn excursion, I pass a group of circus clowns walking down the street carrying huge bunches of brightly hued balloons.

Yes, this is a day late, but that’s because yesterday’s workday extended well into the night and after eating a bowl of chili when I got home, I promptly fell into the sleep of the dead on the couch, not to be roused until the first of the early morning news shows was on. So I post belatedly. Three of the many beautiful things from last week:

1. I depart the office just before sunset. Looking west along I Street, I realize I have reached the clearing at precisely the magic moment of a sunset. You know, the one right before the one you usually catch when you think, “Pretty!” Instead I am struck silent by its utter, soul-cleaning magnificence.

2. I think that when I lived in areas where I was surrounded by lawns and green things that I didn’t notice how much growing plants do every night. But here, where we stuff trees into pocket parks and squeeze gardens into the the two feet between building sidewalk, I look with eager eyes. The first daffodil arrived just before the rains, a harbinger of its relations who took advantage of the pre-spring shower to burst forth en masse Monday morning. The next day it was the green shoots on bushes and a camellia flower. Then an early magnolia tree. And yesterday a tulip puckered up and started applying just the hit of bright pink lipstick. I bet it’s out fully this morning when I head to the metro.

3. My cell phone rings with an unrecognized number. When I tell the woman she’s dialed the wrong number, she replies, “Awww, I’m sorry, honey,” before we say goodbye.

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

I haven’t looked forward to a weekend this much in a while, so I’m really glad it’s Thursday today.

Here are three beautiful things from the last week:

1. I left work early on Friday, which meant I walked home from the Metro during daylight. Along the way I passed blooming snowdrops and croci (crocuses?). It absolutely brightened my foul mood to see the yellow and purple and white flowers.

2. My parents made me handcrafted gifts for my birthday. Mum sewed me a cheery apron based on one of hers that I always use and framed a trio of old photos of us, and Dad made me a mix cd that I’ve listened to every day this week.

3. The start of the work week was warm and sunny, so I ate lunch outside. On Monday I sat in front of the White House and on Tuesday I parked myself outside the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. I forget sometimes exactly how cool it is to live and work in D.C.

What’s been beautiful in your world?

Thursday? Really? Come and gone already? Are you sure?

Okay, fine. So that means it’s time to look back at Three Beautiful Things from the past week. In addition to D.C.’s marriage equality bill taking effect (and there’s not much more beautiful than that…), here are three more random moments from the past week:

1. I groused about the hockey final on Sunday and I really didn’t watch any of it even though I was in the house for the final period or so. But I have to say that I was roused from under my iPod headphones by the sheer joy of the Canadian national anthem being sung along to by anyone with even a passing affiliation with the nation. I’m pretty sure that even if Rudi had turned off the tv, I would still have heard it loud and clear, nearly a thousand miles south of the border. Hockey is their sport. It was their Olympics. And it was a fitting conclusion to the event.

2. In areas that were under two feet of snow two weeks ago and still a bit icy last week, I saw green bulbs pushing out of the earth all over this week and pussy willow catkins in one front yard. Sarah found an even more hopeful sign that spring is nearly here with her first crocus of the season.

3. My friend Susan has been miserable at her job for months now. She called up Saturday to say she’d quit and to invite us over for a celebratory dinner. She looked so calm, happy, and relaxed (despite not yet knowing what her future might hold), that it was impossible to believe this decision was anything but the perfect move for her.

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

We were supposed to head up to Connecticut last weekend, but I drive so infrequently these days that I wimped out at the thought of traversing the mid-Atlantic and southern New England through a significant winter storm. We postponed until this weekend, so will be heading north tomorrow. I’ll try to post from my folks’, but I’m going to see Karen and Marshall and Gramma’s having a birthday, so the blog may remain quiet in lieu of real life.

It’s been a long week (mostly in a good sense) and I’m feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by it. So my three beautiful things may make sense to no one but myself — or maybe they will:

1. The first peek of ocean when coming around a bend in the road is enough to make me feel like a load has been lifted from my shoulders. The hour or so we spend on the beach is my most relaxing in months.

2. D.C. has had a surprisingly chilly, snowy winter. I left home on a day that felt balmy in the lower 40s only to reach the other coast and find it practically tropical in the 60s. On Tuesday I spent much of the day out in the sun with bare arms and legs. In February…

3. My brother’s partner appears to be exactly what I would have picked out for him: sweet, funny, kind, and cute. I’m sure he’s not perfect, but he really does seem like a great guy, and I’m really happy for the two of them.

And because this merits mention, a fourth bonus item:

4. An old friend is the best kind because they know you well enough to call you on your shit, remember your old stories when they were just life, and are willing to stay up late with you when the nothing you thought you had to say turns out to be something after all, even though you both have to be up early the next day. Plus, sometimes they will invite you to bake cookies with them.

What’s been beautiful in your world recently?