Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Because of the heat wave, the city generously has kept the pool open an extra few days after the scheduled close of the season. I make it for one final swim and find myself floating on my back in the gloaming, staring up at the first star of the night.

2. The National Book Festival was Saturday and I got to spend nine hours listening to authors read their books and share stories and generally feel all bookish. It’s one of my favorite celebrations of the year.

3. I arrived home with the final section of a book to read and picked it back up as Rudi was heating me up some dinner. When he came over to hand me my bowl, he found me weeping with a handful of pages left in the book on my lap. He put the bowl down and wordlessly left me alone to finish the sad, sad ending to the novel.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. In the 10 days I’ve been away, sunset has slipped to before 8 p.m. without my realizing it, which means I arrive at the garden later than I should have. Our plot neighbors are out in the field, playing with their toddler and dog, and it’s clear to me as I quickly fling water on plants, that they are lingering so I’m not out there alone. I’m grateful.

2. There is no corn at the Tuesday lunchtime market, but one farmer does have bouquets of flowers. I buy a bunch to cheer up my desk:

3. The nail salon in the center of my parents’ town gives me what may have been my most relaxing pedicure ever. He has his doubts about the color I’ve chosen, but I assure him that as long as it’s bright, it’ll make me happy. It is exactly the color I’m hoping for, and later in the week, I paint my nails equally loud hues:

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

I’m writing from Connecticut, where I’m spending a busy week at my parents’ house, working remotely and hanging out with my grandmother and the family pets while my folks are visiting my brother on the other side of the country.

Here are three beautiful things from my time here this week:

1. My folks have a hummingbird feeder and at least two species (one green and one black) who zoom around the house on a daily basis, drinking deeply from my mother’s flowers. It’s impressive how chatty they are and how curious.

2. What I thought were several ticks on the dog’s leg turn out to be small, round burrs. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.

3. Coming north means that blueberries are still in season here. Gramma and I have been enjoying them as a daily afternoon snack.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Delivering a present I hoped would be loved and having it be oohed and aahed over by the assembled company.

2. A long weekend out of town with Rudi where everything from the (unbooked) bus to the hotel to the weather to the planned and unplanned activities works out well.

3. Tucked amidst the popsicle sellers and beer vendors on the High Line was a Russian-born artist selling vibrant giclée prints of architectural and nature scenes. We come home with a large print in vivid oranges, blues, and purples of a 7th Ave. building during a nighttime snowstorm.

Bonus: After three days away, being met at the door by three cats who are over the moon to have us home.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Jason and his family make an unannounced trip to D.C. It’s been several years since I’ve seen Jason — and at least half their lifetimes since I’ve seen his daughters.

2. I’ve often found that with dear friends, the best parts of the conversations happen just before driving off. Amani and I trade book recommendations on the sidewalk as Marcus waits bemusedly.

3. Coworker Sarah makes a peach cake and brings it in to share. A slice is waiting for me on my desk when I walk in.

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

Hi there! I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately, but those thoughts haven’t materialized as words on a page in a week. Thank goodness for Thursdays, because we always post on Thursdays.

I’m perched here in my rocking chair, teetering slightly into some laundry that ought to be dealt with (and not really by being sat upon), Corey spread across my lap, nudging his head under my right hand in the hope that I will stop bouncing it up and down on the keyboard and instead will rub his temple in that way I can. He’s going to have to wait a few more minutes.

The hallway and kitchen lights are on and help provide some ambient light, but mostly it’s coming from the monitor and the lamp I insisted we buy when Rudi came home from the hospital and I was forced by kindness to surrender my spot on the couch to him and take over his chair. I don’t know how he’s gotten by all these years without adequate lighting, but I’m very happy with the purchase, as is he, I assume, since it’s the first light he turns on in the living room now. It’s also nice as the final light to go off in the room, since it doesn’t bleed into the bedroom nearly as much as the overhead lights. Thus why it remains on now when Rudi and the other two cats have gone to bed.

Now that I’ve set the scene for you, let’s proceed with the post, shall we?

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi and I decided late Saturday afternoon when warnings of high winds and torrential rains forecast for the following day reached us to go in search of the elusive Poolesville sunflowers. McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, which I wrote about a couple years back, has four fields of sunflowers, which I had hunted for, but failed to find twice.

The first field we came to had a few yellow flowers on their last legs, but was mostly a swath of brown, with only the centers of the flowers left, bent over and wizened. We consulted our map and drove to the other end of the park, where we found a field of torso-high green stems, pre-bud. So, trusting that a fairy-tale would not lead us astray, we sought one of the two fields in the middle of the park. While I wouldn’t say it was at peak, it was mostly just right:

2. While walking along the path through the swamp to get to the field, I realized that there were dragonflies perched atop nearly every tree lining our way. Some were way up high, but others were on lower branches and willing to be photographed:

3. Tonight was the final concert at Fort Reno for the summer and Rudi and I spent a couple very pleasant hours lounging on our blanket under clear skies, eating a picnic dinner, and listening to music. (I will confess that I accidentally mistook the first band’s music for 20 minutes of equipment testing, which probably means it’s doubly important I attend concerts like this that are out of my wheelhouse.) Usually, attending Fort Reno means waiting out 90+-degree temps and hoping for a breeze after the sun sets to cool things off a smidge. This year, no breeze was necessary, as today’s high was only in the mid-80s. This free punk music series attracts hipsters and oldsters, families with small children, and interns alike and has occurred annually for 45+ years at the remains of a Civil War fort. This year, though, new rules were inadequately and belatedly shared with the organizer and threatened to derail the shows until a compromise was brokered by third parties to let the concerts occur. There are no promises for next year, so if this was the final show, we were grateful to have been part of it.

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