How? How is it already Thursday? Time is speeding past. I mean, we’re nearly at the Summer Solstice. I’ve got to ratchet up my summer plans before I’m trying to hold a barbecue at Thanksgiving.

Luckily, we can always count on Thursdays to let us slow down, take a deep breath, and recollect three beautiful things from the past week (or in this post’s case, today):

1. We happen on the playing fields just at dusk. Fireflies ascend from the carpet of grass like embers from a fire. (To give credit where it’s due, that’s Rudi’s beautiful — and apt — simile.)

2. General Henry Thomas must have had quite a grueling ride last night because as I bike around Thomas Circle, a man on a cherry picker is toweling off the horse’s bronze hindquarters.

3. The lights on 17th Street conspire so that I am biking home past Farragut Square just as strains of “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” waft past me. The K Street light turns red, which cements it; I turn into the square, deploy the kickstand, and enjoy the final three songs of this week’s Golden Triangle Summer Concert Series. The band this week is the Lloyd Dobler Effect — and they are fantastically fun. They remind me a bit of early Vertical Horizon, back before they sold their soul for a major label record deal.

The D.C.-based band has a cd (which I’ll be buying) and several shows coming up in the area this summer. I hope to catch at least one.

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

Honestly, I feel like time is whooshing past me at a ridiculous pace. How is it already Thursday? And, yet, time is inching along. How is it only Thursday?

But the important thing is it is Thursday. Time for three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Rudi and I happened to have baseball tickets for the night that rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg was set to make his major league debut. The kid was only drafted last year and is barely old enough to have celebratory champagne dumped over his head. I admit that I fully expected the weight of an entire region and the rush to bring him up from the minors to cause him to self-destruct part way into the first inning, but I was wrong in my misgivings. Instead, while he started out throwing a fair number of balls and although he did give up a two-run homer, he set a new club record for strikeouts in a game (14), gave up nary a walk, and clinched a win in front of a raucous crowd of 40,000+. And all in less than 2 1/2 hours!

2. Rudi and I are dragging a bit, so we spend the evening coloring.

3. Friends invite me to join them for a weekday morning outing. I’m delighted to accompany them in their mischief-making.

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

I’m glad it’s Thursday and not just because I need the weekend to arrive. (Honestly, I dozed off on a cat last night and then put my underwear on inside out this morning and didn’t notice for hours… Clearly I need some sleep.) Here are three beautiful things from my week:

1. Going to Old Town Alexandria on a weekend is never a smart idea, but sometimes your errands take you there. Memorial Day Weekend meant King Street was particularly packed, but it was also filled with bikers who were in town for Rolling Thunder (an annual event designed to raise awareness about POW and MIA issues and to assist veterans). Everyone walked up and down the street admiring the motorcycles and trikes — but particularly the Boss Hogg parked right at the bottom of the street. Very classy and so cool.

2. I buy two pints of shelling peas so there will still be some left when Rudi gets home.

3. A terrific afternoon thunderstorm strikes the area Tuesday to mark the beginning of meteorological summer. I turn my back to my computer for a few minutes so I can watch the lightning and listen to the driving rain hit my windows as the storm sweeps through downtown. Blue skies return shortly thereafter.

As I sit down to write tonight, the skies open up and rain pours down. The streetlight silhouettes the deluge and the scent of fresh, earthy mud wafts in from our open window. Thunder rumbles in the distance and closer to us, the rain bounces off the window well railing and the tree leaves. Cars sploosh past. Our Burrow feels nice and cozy and the time seems perfect to think back on three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Mac’s memorial lunch is the sort of event everyone hopes for at such an occasion. 70 or so people turned out to remember a woman with a big smile and a bigger heart. Whether they called her mother, grandmother, neighbor, friend, or whatnot, it was clear that Mac had touched each and every one of us in a deep way. As loved ones got up to eulogize her, I found myself, eyes wet, nodding along with many of their comments. A people person, Mac would have had a ball — and would have loved the afternoon’s festivities. No one wants to lose a loved one, but I hope Sam and his family’s pain was tempered by seeing what a profound effect Mac had on everyone she came in contact with.

2. Memorializing a friend’s grandmother hammers home how fragile one’s family is. I spend the rest of the weekend hanging out on my parents’ deck and in Gramma’s bedroom. Sunday and Monday were quiet and uneventful — and perfect.

3. Amani and I had dinner tonight and followed it up with ice cream, which we took down to the Circle. While sitting next to the fountain and chatting, we suddenly realize that five dancers are suddenly standing up and doing a routine. It wasn’t quite a flash mob — more like five friends suddenly got up to perform their dance at the urging of their larger party — but it was so quintessentially part of city life that Amani and I both felt pleased to be part of it, even if only tangentially.

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

It always irks me a bit when I have things in mind for my TBT post and then I forget to use them. In this week’s instance, I’m totally blaming the sick — and taking a second shot with three beautiful flowery things from my week:

1. On an embankment along the highway leading to Crystal City grow a sea of brilliant red poppies and very green grass.

2. Purple irises and orange poppies atop the yarn cupboard in our living room remind me of a Dar Williams lyric (even if it’s not quite accurate).

3. Tree boxes all over downtown have been turning purple and magenta this week as city maintenance crews switch out the plants. Gone are the early spring plants, which were past their peak, and in are blooming petunias and pansies. It feels more summery already.

I’m back again after a brief bout with a stomach bug. It’s been a shortened week, but nonetheless full of lovely things. Here are three of them:

1. This evening we have baseball tickets — Mets vs. Nationals. It is pleasantly warm and sunny — perfect for spending at the ballpark.

2. Susan and Phillip announce an addition to their family will be arriving in early November.

3. Strawberries — From our garden. From the farmers’ market. Sliced and juiced and served with whipped cream and lemon pound cake. Whole. Cold from the fridge. Warm during a picnic. Room temperature. Strawberries.

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