Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Rudi hands me hot apple cider twice this week as I talk on the phone late at night.

2. A curly-haired little girl (who reminds me of Kim’s Katherine when I last saw her two years ago) runs up the sidewalk in front of me. She stops to admire small scarecrows decorating a restaurant’s front step.

3. A haircut and a pedicure had me outside on 18th Street in the early evening. I pause to make a phone call before heading home and notice a sign announcing a free chocolate tasting at a shop I’ve never visited. I met the chocolatier, who lives in town, and sampled four of her truffles — a cream-free butter chocolate, a maple-syrup filled chocolate, a coconut-almond filled chocolate, and an olive oil and pine nut white chocolate. Yum! Seriously, all were terrific!

What’s been beautiful in your life lately?

I know, I know, I know. I promised you nightly updates of my summer reads a month ago and not only did I fail to deliver that, but then I also neglected to give you my September books. All I can say is that I’m working on it.

The second installment of my summer reading:

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, by Dorothy Gilman

From the jacket: “Now the incredible Mrs. Pollifax, part-time geranium expert, part-time spy, has been sent on a safari to smoke out a very clever international assassin whose next target is the president of Zambia. ‘Just take a lot of pictures of everyone on that safari,’ the CIA man told her. ‘One of them has to be our man.’ It sounded simple enough. But it wasn’t. Because shortly after Mrs. Pollifax started taking pictures, someone stole her film. And right after that she was kidnapped by Rhodesian terrorists….”

My take: I’d once before listened to a Mrs. Pollifax mystery, so I suspected I’d like this one when I spied it at a library book sale. I was right. Not only did the book provide a fun mystery with lots of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming half the time, it also provided me with an interesting primer into the African nations of Zambia and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). Mrs. Pollifax will appeal to anyone who enjoys the Jessica Fletcher/Murder She Wrote type of books or someone who wants to be immersed in another culture in their reading.

Pages: 223

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

From the jacket: “Two sisters of opposing temperaments who share the pangs of tragic love provide the theme for Jane Austen’s dramatically human narrative, Sense and Sensibility. Elinor, practical and conventional, is the perfection of sense. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, is the embodiment of sensibility. To both comes the sorrow of unhappy love….”

My take: I led a read-along of perennial favorite Sense and Sensibility on Ravelry which lasted much of the summer as we examined five chapters a week. I enjoyed learning the outdated definition of “sensibility,” which corresponds more to a modern definition of “empathy” and which is a decidedly romantic approach to a life outlook than one governed by sense. (How I read this the first time without exploring this language change is really beyond me.) While Elinor remains a favorite, I found that I did tire of her very tightly reined in approach to life and love (even if her mother and sister’s emotionally charged lives do go a long way toward explaining it) and wanted to see an outburst or two…

Pages: 314

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

From the jacket: “’Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?’ When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can est your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. With their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.”

My take: I really enjoyed this story of four children who come together to respond to a newspaper ad — logical Reynie, resourceful Kate, obstinate Constance, and Sticky, who never forgets. Each of them, already alone in a world being subdued via television and subliminal messages, agrees to work for Mr. Benedict, a genius who has pinpointed the source of the evil and that children are being utilized to disperse it. The team, for that’s ultimately what they must become, must infiltrate the “school,” find a way to get into the good graces of its benefactor, and destroy the machinery that will ultimately destroy them if they fail. Perfect for those who don’t quite fit.

(My absolute favorite part of the book may have come even before the story began. The dedication reads “For Elliot” and the thanks conclude “… I would like to thank … my son Elliot, for being Elliot — which is to say, for making everything fine.” Can you imagine a nicer compliment?)

Pages: 486

Find the first installment of summer reads here. Part 3 next week after I return from Connecticut and Karen’s wedding…

I realize that I don’t know enough about Islam and should probably learn more to help me feel more confident about what I read in the papers and online.

However, I thought this article from Sunday’s Washington Post, “Spare Me the Sermon on Muslim Women,” offered a refreshing perspective from what I normally hear. I learned lots and will be doing more reading.

At least 25% of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction, according to the first assessment of their status for a decade.

BBC article
Science article

After the death last week of Nick Reynolds, it seems like an appropriate time to remember the Kingston Trio.

First, I offer you a pretty straight up version of my favorite of their songs:

After their first lead singer left, John Stewart came to sing for them:

And last I also wanted to include something a little more unusual, so I also offer you a promotional video they made:

I suppose it ought not to surprise me that weekends fly past (particularly when I sleep past 11 each day), but it does nevertheless.

Friday night was the final night of jazz in the sculpture garden. The ground was sopping (it hadn’t rained for two days!), so we all sat on plastic bags on top of our ground cover, but still managed to have a nice night. Unwilling to admit that the season had come to a close, we stood around under the silver tree until the guards kicked us out. We’re mulling a Friday night game night instead for the chilly months, as that could still be an informal potluck type thing, but would still give us a nice way to end our weeks together.

Saturday was a nice, sunny day, so John, Rudi, and I walked down to the Smithsonian’s International Gallery to catch the final weekend of the Jim Henson retrospective they were running. It was a really fun exhibit, with many of the muppets we remember, clips of Henson’s original D.C.-area commercials, and a great interactive area for kids to explore their creative side. The only down side to the exhibit was that they wouldn’t let you take photographs, not even without a flash. The exhibit is a traveling one, so, if it’s going to be anywhere remotely near you, I encourage you to visit.

We followed that up with pizza up at the New Haven-style pizzeria in Columbia Heights. Pete’s Apizza does it better than anyone else in D.C. and I woke up the next day with a burnt roof of my mouth. Connecticut residents will recognize this as a strong testament indeed. John’s new condo is only a couple blocks away, so he let us come hang out and watch old movies on his giant t.v.

Today was a gorgeous farewell to summer (I hope), with 80 degree temps and bright sun. After a trip to the farmers’ market, I ended up at the garden, where Rudi and I got the lettuce plants into the ground and harvested some more tomatoes and beans. I swear, at this rate, I’ll still be picking beans at Thanksgiving. We concluded the weekend with an American’s sentimentalized view of Paris — Funny Face.

I do love weekends… How was yours?