Saturday, we headed across town for our baseball ticket draft. Several hours and 18 baseball tickets later, we decided to walk home from Capitol Hill in order to catch the tail end of the kite festival.

Unfortunately, it was a rather damp day and the festival mostly had run its course by the time we made our way down the Mall. But it’s okay. We saw a few kites anyway.

Some were still aloft:

Others were grounded and awaiting relaunch:

Others were permanently out of commission:

And one was invading:

Beware, America. Beware!

Our internet seems to be liking us better this weekend, so I’m able to post from home tonight.

Ten days ago was the first day of spring, and I hurriedly finished up a new pair of socks to be able to wear them to celebrate.

They remind me of rainbow sherbet.

The pattern is Spring Forward.

The Yarn is Mama E’s C*Eye*ber Fiber sock yarn in the Spring Garden Colorway.

They go with my green Mary Janes and my comfy green pants.

They also go with the first tulip of the year.

It was so fun to wear new socks on the first day of a new season. I’m thinking I may celebrate every season that way from now on…

As for Sock Madness, I’m nearly to the toe decreases on the second sock and then just have to add the afterthought heel. I’m hoping to finish tomorrow night. This is how they looked on Friday morning:

I hope that will enable me to advance to Round #2.

Sorry for the blog silence. We’re having connectivity woes at home and I was sick yesterday.

As I play catch-up on some other posts, I give you three beautiful things from my week to think about:

1. UConn handily advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a trouncing of Florida. Berkeley is our next opponent, but I don’t envision as easy a win.

2. Qualcomm has bought out every billboard at Metro Center. Every time I enter or leave the station, I’m reminded of Grey Kitten. I think it’s nice of his employer to do that for me.

3. On Sunday, Rudi went off for his first long ride of the year, so after I hit the farmers’ market, I headed to Georgetown to spend the day by myself. The sky was blue and the sun was warming, so first I laid by the canal, then later moved down to the bank of the Potomac for a nap. Although by the time I rose to head home I needed a shawl, for a while I had bare toes.

The powers of collective thought are strong, so I’m hoping you’ll all do me a favor. Tomorrow morning, my friend Rebecca is having surgery. If you could keep her in your thoughts and send healing vibes and prayers toward Washington state, I’d be grateful.

Sometimes I go looking for a particular song for the Monday forays into my music and have trouble finding it online. Other times, there are videos, but they’re terrible quality. (Yes, I know you may find that hard to believe based on some of the videos I do share.)

So, today, I wanted to highlight The Kennedys’ “Life Is Large,” the title track from the husband-and-wife duo’s second album. It’s my favorite song of theirs and contains the couplet that I’ve included in the signature file in my email for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, there’s only one video for the song, shot at Falcon Ridge, from what might have been a camera phone. It was fine, but not what I was hoping for.

In the hunt, though, sometimes you find other gems. Sometimes they’re covers by other artists, but other times it’s a track by an artist that you just hadn’t seen until that moment. Which brings me to this video, a cover of The Beatles’ tune, “A Day in the Life.” I hope you’ll agree it’s a worthy substitute:

And if you’re still curious about the song I was hoping to spotlight, here’s an audio version of Pete and Maura’s album cut. John Gorka provides backing vocals and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds plays 12-string, with others: “Life Is Large.” (Firefox readers beware: it may open as a pop-up.)

I made it to work early and then got to leave on time, too. I have knit the top of a sock cuff for Sock Madness and finished the toe of my spring socks in time to wear them tomorrow.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. As I drive home from the Homespun Yarn Party on the beltway, I pass an old-fashioned fire truck heading home to Hyattsville. There is no cab, so the poor firefighter is out in the damp weather, his rain coat pulled up over his head to keep away the elements.

2. Elspeth, Erik, and Julia all share good news. One has secured a coveted summer position in Russia and several acceptance letters for grad school next fall. Another has a new job. And the third has seen one of those we-missed-in-the-night notes for which he is the intended target.

3. Rudi and I headed to Virginia tonight to catch an early evening showing of The Tale of Despereaux at Arlington Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse on their $1 ticket night. The food was tasty. The movie was sweet. The theater clapped at the end of the show. And the kids watching with us were awesome. Five minutes into the movie, the narrator is still setting the scene. “Where’s Despereaux?” asks one voice. Others also chatter to the screen through the show. And our way back to the parking lot, we pass a mom and her two little girls. “He saved the princess!” “He was a nice mouse!” It was great to see a kids’ movie with its intended audience.