Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I leave work with just enough time to get to the stop to catch the bus home only to find that the road has been blocked off and they’re not letting anyone through. While the bus was also going to be on the wrong side of this roadblock, usually this would be cause for grumbling about a delay in getting home. But there are people in from out of town who are really excited about the fact that the Presidential motorcade is about to pass by, and their enthusiasm is catching. You get used to it when you live here, and you tend to focus only on the inconvenience to your daily life, but it is actually kind of cool that the leader of the nation is driving right past you.

2. Rudi’s bicycle club gets tickets to the baseball game and they invite me along. Since it’s a Mets game and I’m in between volleyball seasons, I say yes. I’m glad I do when I discover that the seats are in left field, about six rows above the visiting team’s dugout. I sit and chat with Rudi’s friends for a while, but late in the game I move forward to follow what’s going on with the relief staff. That’s Fernando Salas, above, who came in to get the first two outs in the tenth. And this is Jerry Blevins heading into the game to face down his former teammate and Nationals powerhouse Daniel Murphy for the third and final out, saving the day for the Mets fans.

3. Rudi made a batch of pesto tonight with fresh basil from the farmers market. We’ll freeze most of it for the winter, but tonight we had very tasty pasta for supper.

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

Three beautiful things from the first week of September:

1. I bought a seersucker dress back in the spring before the weather was warm enough to justify it, put it in my closet, and then never thought about it again until I was contemplating what to wear during our latest heat wave. Since I’ve been feeling mopey about wanting to buy new clothes lately (why is it that several decades out of school, I still think I need a new outfit come September?), cutting the price tag off the dress felt especially good. (Plus, a coworker complimented me on it!)

2. I swallowed back the fear of rejection and asked someone I only know slightly to a movie based on a book we’ve both read. It doesn’t come out for another six weeks, but she said yes!

3. Last night after their ride, Rudi’s bike group went out for pizza on their club’s dime. When they were divvying up leftovers, they asked if he’d like to take a few slices home to me. They made for a delicious supper.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Friends have just moved back to the East Coast from California, and we got to celebrate by having supper with them.

2. We played a hard-fought and ridiculously close quarterfinal match in volleyball, but ultimately lost. This meant I got to celebrate the end of volleyball season with a half hour at the pool before it closed.

3. Rudi got the all-clear to return to cycling post-surgery.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Deciding to play yarn chicken with the bind-off on my shawl, and having more than enough.

2. Friends and some of the kids Rudi coaches bring him gifts of food to help him recuperate from surgery, so we have quiche, cake, and cookies to eat.

3. My volleyball team lost all seven regular-season games, but everyone advances into the playoffs. We surprised our opponents — and ourselves — by winning two matches in a row. We get to play again next week in the quarterfinals.

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

I had plans to record this week’s three beautiful things after Rudi went to bed last night, as is my wont, but then I got so busy finishing books and making knitting progress that I didn’t next recall that plan until after I was in bed. I gave a brief thought to getting up and rectifying the situation, but as both laptop and phone were in the living room, I decided to stay where I was.

So here we have three slightly late beautiful things from my week past:

1. Twice over the weekend, we saw plants that were growing out of cracks in the sidewalk. Not just crab grass or weeds, but a tomato plant and petunias.

2. The organization I work for is looking to make some changes, so they’ve been requesting a lot of feedback. To bribe folks to fill out a survey, they promised a treat if we hit a certain percentage of responders, and we did. Yesterday they delivered with hand-made ice cream sandwiches from the local cookie truck.

3. Rudi had surgery on Monday to remove the hardware he had put in when he broke his leg two years ago. He’d been in a lot of pain lately, and although the first 12 hours post-op were unpleasant (apparently the drugs they used burn as they leave your system), he’s been feeling far less these past few days and has cut his pain prescriptions back significantly. He’ll still need another surgery, probably in the next year to replace his hip, but it’s really nice to see him feeling better for however long that lasts.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Grey Kitten and his husband came to town for a few days and we all got to spend some time together visiting bookstores, eating meals, and touring museums.

2. We did a lot of cleaning in preparation for their visit, and this included washing the windows, which, because they’re below ground in a window well, were filthy. I can’t believe how much more light gets in now.

3. I enjoy watching the Olympics from the artistry and culture of the opening ceremonies to the individual sports (particularly volleyball). I’ve spent a lot of time in front of the tv this past week. (Bonus: climbing down into the window well to wash the windows meant I was able to make a more drastic change of angle to the antenna we have outside, so NBC is coming in better than it did on Friday.)

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