The rain that we’ve been waiting for for two days has finally arrived and is currently drenching everything outside. It has not yet moved to drenching things inside, but I think I’ll put down precautionary towels before I head off to bed. Better safe than sorry, particularly since I’m going to get up early for Bike to Work Day and to make some sorbet to take to my office potluck. (I have yet to decide if I’m going to bother biking downtown in a downpour. And, if I do decide to, whether I’ll take my own bike or Bikeshare.) Keep your fingers crossed for an early-afternoon end to the rain so we can celebrate Rudi’s birthday with a picnic with friends.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Longtime friends Eri and ECN come down from New York for a long weekend and Eri’s 40th birthday. We introduce them to some local eateries and our favorite fountain (at Malcolm X Park), eat strawberry shortcake (with the first strawberries of the season at the farmers market), and stay up late catching up. It’s a nice visit.

2. Four skeins of yarn wound and tucked into a bag for a couple impending projects. Their potential energy is palpable.

3. In honor of impending company, I take a comp day and a vacation day off from work to make it a four-day weekend. While I spend one of the days cleaning, I also do a lot of sleeping. When I headed back to work on Tuesday, I felt more together than I have in a long time.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week? Feel free to share in the comments.

This is one of those nights when I struggle to remember what I told myself earlier in the week would make a good item for today’s column. I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting some, but these are good, too:

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. At the craft fair last weekend, I am drawn to an artist who uses fabric as her medium to produce landscapes. While what pulls me in are depictions of the kite festival, ultimately Rudi and I take home a tetraptych of a tree through the seasons. It feels very grownup to buy actual art to put on our walls.

2. One of our favorite parts of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival every year is the sheep dog demonstration, which is run by the same two shepherds and their border collies. This year, they have used a different breed of sheep than usual, and it’s clear these animals do not appreciate the gig. The emcee announces they’ve escaped the pen several times over the weekend and have had to be rounded up for real from the festival grounds. As we watch, the sheep decide they do NOT want to be herded through a chute and over a little bridge, because they start charging the dog trying to herd them. This is a first in our experience, and while the shepherds ultimately restore order (we learn why it is a shepherd carries a crook, for instance), it’s fascinating to watch a more legitimate demonstration, rather than what’s usually a pretty scripted event.

3. Colorful poppies and fragrant lilies of the valley from farmers markets join the spring’s final delicate bouquet of violets from the garden in vases atop the fridge.

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

If it’s Thursday, it’s time to share three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Closing my eyes for a bit after an early start to the day and many hours of working with the public.

2. The first asparagus of the season — eaten with Hollandaise sauce.

3. While in Connecticut at the beginning of the month, I bought a cheerful yellow dress. I wore it for the first time Sunday to a wedding reception and got lots of compliments on it, including from the bride, who was similarly attired in a brightly hued outfit.

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

Nine years ago this week, inspired by Clare’s blog, I started recording beautiful things in my life. Mostly it’s been a weekly — on Thursdays (because of the alliteration) — occurrence, but there have been some additional posts in there as life has mandated. As my most regular feature, this marks my 496th post on the topic.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. A new pair of contacts after wearing the previous pair too long, dozing off in them too many times, and, finally, getting sunscreen on them.

2. My new volleyball team does not have the on-court skill of my previous one, but the camaraderie is strong, and four of us enjoyed a post-game drink this week.

3. Tuesday evening, as sunset neared, the day’s final rain poured down like a snow shower. Off to the east, a double-rainbow blossomed.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rolling up my jeans on a warm afternoon.

2. A bouquet of violets plucked from my garden and put into a green vase atop the fridge.

3. Making it to the metro just as the rain hits.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Long denied the sea air, on my one free evening in Boston I take the T to the ocean in Revere. I walk along the beach, watching the beam from an offshore lighthouse cut through the fog, and marveling at the size of the clam shells washed up from recent Nor’easters. I had done some research to find a fish/sandwich shop for dinner, but it turned out to be a takeout-only joint. Disregarding the 40-degree temperatures and the storm rolling in, I take my dinner outside and have a tasty, if quick, fish feast in a beach-side pavilion before heading back to the city and my warm hotel bed.

2. After six years and many requests, Nationals Park finally added a veggie hot dog to the stadium’s menu.

3. My friend BW has a monthlong internship in D.C. this summer and texted me to inquire about an apartment she was considering. Turns out it’s less than a mile from the Burrow, which is the closest we’ll have lived together since we graduated from college 18 years ago. I’m beyond excited.

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