We’re on vacation, so you get three beautiful things from New England!

The view from the top of Mt. Monadnock

1. We have been fortunate to camp at a time where the moon was waxing over clear skies. It’s so bright at midnight that although I take a lantern to the bath house to wash up, it’s only so anyone coming up the road sees me. And today, when we misjudged the length of time we had for our hike up to the peak of Mount Monadnock, the rising full moon escorted us the rest of the way down the trail to the road.

2. My folks built us fires to enjoy last weekend in their living room and Rudi and I have kept the tradition going at our campsite the last couple nights. Rudi gets them started and I, having learned well from my mother, burn them down to embers hours later with a well-appointed poking stick that we found by the fire pit. (And, of course, there have been nightly s’mores and toasted marshmallows.)

3. I bake a batch of Gramma cookies for Dad for his birthday and he lets everyone indulge in a couple while they’re warm from the oven.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The sea oats in the bouquets on my desk sway and clatter slightly in the breeze when my window is open or when, catlike, I reach out to bat at them. The sound reminds me of the shore.

2. It’s been a long spell since we’ve had a storm. It spatters against the leaves that have fallen into the window well and drips off the tree above.

3. The scent of dry leaves wafts up from beneath my feet. It is the smell of fall.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. I am not a fan of coleslaw, but the slaw that accompanied my lunch from the Cirque Cuisine truck was delicious — cabbage, celeriac, pumpkin seeds, and cilantro topped with a maple-cider vinaigrette.

2. [Reaching into his bag]: “I picked you up something today.” [Hopefully]: “Is it sugar?” [Proudly]: “It is sugar!” [Delighted]: “Yay!”

3. Our friend Sam was in town for a conference. We got to try a new restaurant just the three of us on Friday and then on Tuesday, we joined a couple of his other college friends at another restaurant, where we sat on their homey backyard patio for hours. And tonight we had one final dinner and ice cream with dear friends Amani and Marcus before they move across country.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. As I get off the train to head to work, a dozen high school students wearing togas get on.

2. We are still eating local corn on the cob and it’s surprisingly sweet and tender for so late in the year.

3. Consuming a popsicle (cinnamon vanilla peach) after a vigorous and victorious volleyball match.

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

It’s been a beautiful week weather-wise, one to be savored slowly and out-of-doors in anticipation of wintry weather’s arrival. I have done some of that this week, as well as attending some author readings (sadly held indoors), so, frankly, it’s been a pretty great week for me.

Here are three of the beautiful things from it:

1. Biting into the first honeycrisp apple of the season.

2. Monday’s tragedy at the Navy Yard meant that the game we had tickets to attend understandably was postponed until Tuesday afternoon. I was the only one of the four of us who could get the time off, so I went on my own. I watched the game from a half-dozen vantage points, ate falafal and cotton candy (at different times; that combo does not appeal!), and pulled the radio broadcast of the game up on my iPod. It was a picture-perfect day for a game and the Nats kept it exciting before pulling out a win in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth. I biked to a couple farmers markets and then over to have tea in the back patio of a Middle Eastern tea shop, where I took notes for writing a scene and read.

3. Being at the beach.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week in this last full week before fall’s arrival?

Three beautiful things from the week past:

1. I hand the Trader Joes clerk my shopping bag and put my library books down on the kiosk ledge to dig out my wallet and pay. “May I add the books to the bag for you?” he asks. Why, yes, you may.

2. Catching the final train of the night from a location that would be challenging to get home from otherwise.

3. I read through the board book section of the shop in search of a birthday present. I take three to Rudi for narrowing down, but he likes all of them, too. We buy them all, because there will always be another baby in need of a gift and Christmas is not that far away.

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