Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. On our walk home from the farmers’ market this Sunday we passed a bulldog on a leash. He had to have been the happiest bulldog I’ve ever seen, with a jaunty step and and a smile on his face (really!). He buh-dum-buh-dum’ed past us on the sidewalk, delighted at a lovely morning walk.

2. I was showing Mum and Dad the garden plot on Saturday when the community pool opened next door. There was a dash by 30 or so people to the deck chairs lined up on the shallow side of the pool and it sort of felt like a bit of a feeding frenzy.

3. My pillow grows warm very quickly and I am feverish. I flip the pillow over and the second side is refreshingly cool against my head.

It was a rainy morning here in D.C. and I’m totally grateful. It seems like we’ve had so little rain this summer with the storms petering out over the ‘burbs. We could really use a good dousing; we’re experiencing a severe drought and the area is showing the strain. To celebrate the rain, let’s think of Three Beautiful Things from the last week. Here are mine; what are yours?

1. There have been intermittent moments of cooler weather this last week, affording me the opportunity to lunch outside, to leave the window open during the day, to walk home in the evening, and to read at the local Starbucks with a lemonade-passion tea on a weekend afternoon. After an interminably hot July and beginning of August, these blessed moments offer hope that fall will, in fact, arrive someday.

2. As Amani, Sarah, and I left the theater following last evening’s Becoming Jane showing, a lone saxman played a mournful tune. It just seemed an appropriate mood setter following an Austen biopic.

3. Rudi’s and my favorite new act to come out of Falcon Ridge this year were the Lovell Sisters. Saturday evening, they played a free show at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. The event was packed and the girls looked like they were having a terrific time. (I can’t link it directly, but you can see the same show we did by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.)

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Descending into the depths of the Dupont Circle Metro station, which is air-conditioned, from the outside, which is not.

2. Picking up a chocolate croissant for breakfast early at the farmers’ market on Sunday. By the time I finish my shopping and return home, the chocolate inside is all melted and warm and perfect.

3. The velvet fuzz on a young buck’s antlers and the velvety-looking fur of Suzanne and Grant’s new kitten.

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. Towards the end of the festival, Daschel is looking for someone to play with. A teenager teaches him to play hackysack for a little while. Rudi takes him for a piggyback ride and lets him wear his sunglasses and hat. A woman further up the hill plays catch with him. Finally some children his own age arrive and he’s able to join in their games.

2. En route to the festival, we spend the night just north of NYC. We take the train into the city to have dinner with erik and then sit in a twilight-filled Union Square watching people and dogs go by. The next afternoon, we stop at Eri’s. She rustles up an old bike for me to borrow and we pedal leisurely into town for lunch at a cafe.

3. Mum calls mid-afternoon on Sunday to check if we’ll want supper when we arrive there after the festival ends. Rudi, having ridden 100 miles earlier in the day, enthusiastically endorses the idea. I expect that she’ll just have leftovers for us to reheat when we arrive, but the whole family has waited for us to dine amidst the candles outside. In addition to Mum making my favorite potatoes, Gramma has baked a blueberry-peach pie.

Three beautiful things from the camping trip/music festival:

1. The blueberry pancakes Mike makes for breakfast on the campstove griddle.

2. Having my sunburnt skin misted with cool water by two small children.

3. Shelley and I intend to stay down at the music on Friday night when the guys return to camp. Instead, it begins to sprinkle and we decide to head up early. The sprinkles don’t turn into actual rain, so after sending the kids and the guys to bed, we decide to mosey back down to the midway for a late night cup of hot chocolate. Just as we arrive, the skies open up and the rain pours down. By the time we walk back to the campsite, we are thoroughly soaked. (My sneakers only just dried today.)

I’m away on vacation. In my absence I leave you some random posts. Today’s offers you Three Beautiful Things about Harry Potter:

1. I pull the sixth book out of my bag while waiting for the train late one evening and settle in to read. A man in his twenties approaches. “Excuse me. You don’t know me, but are you rereading all the books before the seventh one comes out on Friday? … You are? Me too! I’m so glad I’m not the only one. … And this isn’t just the second time you’ve read them right? … Aren’t they great?”

2. Saturday afternoon, we head outside to read at the local Starbucks (they have an expansive area of outdoor seating). Two guys are reading the books, as is a girl nearby and another girl at the restaurant next door. We see several copies walk by. Blog posts from around the world talk about the book. Almost all of my friends are reading the book. Was this what they meant at Conn when they talked about the global community? Maybe if we had more books like these, there would be fewer wars…

3. A teen sits outside a café, sleeping, his head cushioned on his closed copy of The Deathly Hallows.