Unlike the previous two weekends, this one was just two days. Amazing how short that feels, particularly when the workweek feels so stressful.

But it was filled with lots of good things:

On Friday, Karen and I spent several hours on the phone. Yes, we saw each other just last weekend. That’s part of the magic of our friendship.

Saturday, I spent some time outside in Georgetown. Spring flowers are starting to bloom. I discovered a bakery I like in Virginia had set up an outpost in the neighborhood back in November without my noticing and that another had closed just last week. I knit a bit and read.

On Sunday, I headed to the farmers market, where I bought the ingredients for a gardener’s pie (which Rudi turned into a delicious meal for us tonight). Then I ventured down to Lafayette Park next to the White House for a rally in support of Ukraine. I got a lesson in flags of the nations that broke away from the Soviet Union, saw lots of flowered headbands and embroidered clothes, and was overwhelmed by what a large Slavic expat community there is in the area. As always, moments of song were the most powerful, with a group of mostly older women singing at the back of the crowd, and the Ukranian national anthem brought the crowd to their knees in unison. A college-aged woman sobbed through an interview, and I suspect (but was too far away to confirm) that she was worried about family back home. My heart breaks for those in danger’s way — and those in safety who can only wait to hear that loved ones have survived another day. It puts any hardships in my own life in stark perspective.

How was your weekend?