Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I went to the National Arboretum for the first time last week. The azaleas were in late peak bloom, and we got a nice hike in to see a good portion of them. (Azaleas and rhododendron remind me of my grandfather.) We also got to see the old columns from the Capitol, which stood back when Lincoln was sworn in as president.

2. The Mets were in town for one of their two visits this season. In the final game of the four-game series, they scored 19 runs to blow the Nationals out of the water. It was ridiculous, but, also, a win is a win, particularly if I get to see it in person.

3. My Saturday league resumed for the season last weekend. I loved getting to see folks I hadn’t caught up with since November and it was good to go out for supper, even if they’ve gotten rid of the sandwich I used to love.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rebecca and I walk across town after coaching to catch up on how life is going. And my upstairs neighbors, Ryan and the delightful golden puppy Miller, walk partway back from the park with me this evening, before I break away to do my grocery shopping.

2. The connecting bus I need does not show up, which means I am later than intended arriving at the Arlington library — and the closest door is already locked. But the library is open for three more minutes! So I sprint to another door and then across to the holds shelf, where a book I’ve been waiting for is about to go to the net person on the list. The librarian comes over — “Don’t run! I’ll check you out!” she kindly assures me.

3. Rudi and I were separately looking through photos to print and we both commented on how much the cats have grown: “Coal was so tiny! He curled up in my bowl!” And, “Remember how much Ember hated when we played music?!” But somehow, surprisingly, six months have passed since they moved in with us, and none of us can imagine the world any other way.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. It was cold and rainy last Friday, so Rudi and I went and bought seedlings for the garden — endive, herbs, strawberries, beets, and flowers. It made us feel very cheerful about the spring gardening season. Now I just need to finish putting it all into the ground!

2. One of the things that I grow in the garden are violets, and the image above is why. When you pick a single violet, you don’t get the scent. If you pick an entire nosegay, on the other hand, you are treated to a gentle, but heavenly perfume that fades after a day or so.

3. Even though our local schools are on spring break this week, my coaching volunteer gig kicked off its outdoor season. It was good to see my fellow coaches and to get to start teaching kids volleyball again.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The UConn women won the NCAA Division 1 basketball championship by a considerable margin. I was really glad to see Paige get her big win and for UConn to take home its 12th title.

2. Chris, Neal, and I went out for supper at a well-respected Filipino restaurant in Mount Pleasant. The food was delicious, and it was great to spend some time off the court with the two of them.

3. Baseball season has begun, and we got to our first Nationals game of the season on the chilliest day in weeks. (Rudi and I love going to spring and fall baseball games.) The Nats won decisively, holding the World Series champs to just a handful of runs and Ohtani to a single hit (he did then steal two bases, but we didn’t challenge him, given the score and the temperatures, which were in the looooow 40s).

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi is home and put back together in one piece.

2. I went out to the park to read Monday afternoon, and while my phone assured me that we weren’t due for rain for several hours, Mother Nature had other ideas. By the time I realized I was going to get very wet on my way back home, I decided to stick around to see if a rainbow would appear. And lo! Not one, but two! (I finished the latest Linda Holmes novel, in which the protagonist also gets caught in a D.C. afternoon rainstorm, from the steps outside the Phillips Collection.)

3. There’s a house in the neighborhood, where the owners take a great deal of care with their front garden. The daffs and early bulbs are past, but the tulips are out now in force.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world as March transitions to April?

Apologies for disappearing. I was packing Wednesday for a trip to a funeral when I heard from Rudi that he’d broken his arm on a ski vacation and needed outpatient surgery. Honestly, while I knew what I wanted to write (and packed my laptop so I could do so), I just lacked the mental energy to get it done until I returned home tonight.

But the cats and I are reunited! Rudi is recovering and generally is in decent spirits! And I got to see my folks and my bff and some extended family!

So, to get us back on track, here are three beautiful things from before this past Friday:

1. While I was away for peak bloom, I still got myself down to the Potomac and to the Tidal Basin for just-prior-to-peak cherry blossoms. Lovely, as always. (It’s one of the things here that always lives up to the hype, even if I don’t always choose to brave the tourists down by the water.

2. Last Saturday, I had set up my volleyball net down on the Mall and about 10 of us were playing when we watched a mounted park police officer pass by. We noted it as unusual, but resumed play for a bit, but then I realized the officer had brought his golden-maned horse right up alongside the court. Honestly, I was expecting him to chase us away because we lacked a permit (technically you need one for any activity attracting 10 people or more), but he just said, “I think this is the first time my horse has seen a volleyball.” Clearly, everyone rushed over to pet the horse and then we had to wait a bit for the crowd that had gathered on & adjacent to the court to shift. Then, the officer asked us to gently hit a ball over the net so he could see if his horse reacted. “A helicopter could land 50 feet from here, and he wouldn’t blink. But if there’s a fire, he’s bolting. So it’s good to see how he responds.” The horse was fine with the ball, but failed to return it over the net.

3. A creatives networking group Rudi and I belong to usually holds its meetings early on Friday mornings, so I haven’t attended many recently. But they generally hold their anniversary celebrations in the evenings, and this year Rudi and I were both in town. We metro’ed over to the newish Latin American food hall, La Cosecha, ate some tasty Salvadoran papusas, and got to see an art show for free. It made for a very nice date night.

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