Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Bier Baron (formerly the Brickskeller, for those of you with a historic familiarity with D.C.) has reopened. It joins the Fireplace as the most local bars that shuttered completely during the pandemic to resume service in the past month. While I once would have been irritated to walk through the clouds of tobacco and pot smoke outside them both, at this point I greet their crowds like old friends (in my head).

2. My volleyball teammate, Katie, gave me a ride home after our game in rather plothering weather. As I’d biked down and had planned to metro home and I was soaked to the skin, it was a remarkably generous offer. And I was home in half the time either of the other modes of transit would have allowed.

3. A colleague offers me kind words when I need them most this week.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I can tell it has poured by the rivers of water running between the escalators at the foot of my metro stop’s exit, but the storm was nearly entirely contained to the amount of time it took to ride back across town.

2. The attendants working the beer stand by where Sarah and I are watching the baseball game (our seats were in the full sun) hand us each a free pretzel as they’re shutting down after the seventh inning stretch.

3. D.C. has long hosted a number of outdoor film series, but they’ve been a little slow coming back from the pandemic. The Building Museum has taken over hosting the one dedicated to movies containing martial arts movies, so we head over to watch Solo. That’s when we find out that the team that hosts it also invites a local dj collective rescoring the film with hip hop songs. It’s a fun interpretation, even if I need the songs to be as obvious as “The Theme from Shaft” playing when Lando Calrissian first appears on the screen.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Strawberry Full Moon stands out vibrantly against the evening sky.

2. Fireflies hit critical mass, and you can see them sending each other coded messages from every hedgerow, front garden, and field. One even finds its way into the apartment, much to the fascination of Corey.

3. Our basket of blueberries from last Friday’s pick-your-own adventure sits out on the counter, allowing us to grab a handful every time we walk past and encouraging their addition to everything from pancakes to salads to yogurts. It’s been a delicious week.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. One adventuresome duckling is reunited with its siblings and mama.

2. The new members of our volleyball team seem nice.

3. I forgot a bike lock, but really want to run into a shop. Some GW students watch it for me.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Getting to swim at the outside pool.

2. I take my supper and my book up to the park while Rudi’s on evening Zoom calls. It starts out sweltering, but fades to pleasant.

3. Many of the members of my team at work, staff and contractors, gather at my boss’ house for an afternoon picnic. We all greet each other with relieved hugs.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi and I wrap up our trip north with a stop at Dairy Queen in Montvale, N.J.

2. Rudi replaces the shifters on my bike to ones that are smooth and work without needing to hold them together, my grips to ones that don’t leave imprints in my palms, and adds my DCPL bike bell to my handlebar. I feel loved and tended to.

3. Seeing my parents and Karen after such a long time apart. May we never repeat the experiment.

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