Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Our first in-person baseball game of 2023, the final Spring Training exhibition match between the Nationals and the Yankees, was a fine, sunny spring day and brought the Nats a 3-0 win. (And then the Mets gave fans an Opening Day victory we got to watch on tv.)

2. We biked through the peak bloom of the D.C. cherry blossoms on Hains Point. Given people spent three hours stuck in traffic down there over the weekend, our unencumbered ride was remarkably pleasant.

3. Some friends are in the process of moving apartments and Rudi and I were able to give them a hand. We have benefited from help in the past and are always happy to pay it forward (particularly since we’ll need help ourselves again sometime).

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My friend Anna’s alma mater hadn’t made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since before she was born and then, in their first appearance in over 40 years, upset a #4 seed. We joined her and a couple of her other friends to watch the second round, where her team fought valiantly, but lost.

2. One of the teams in our league has been a no-show for weeks and mostly people stick around to play pickup against their opponents. I noticed this week they had the first slot, so I roused our team to show up early and get in some extra time on the court.

3. I’m up in Connecticut spending some time with my folks. It’s weird coming up at this point in the season, because you literally watch spring disappear as you drive north. But it’s been fun seeing bulbs start to emerge in the couple days I’ve been here and to know that come what may, spring will find New England, too.

What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Ramen from my local sushi joint was disappointing on first try. I found some suggestions online for improving the cheap store-bought stuff and implemented them with the leftovers and it was delicious.

2. I celebrated Pi Day by taking pie dough out of the freezer — and then buying a mini pie at the store when I realize this will leave me with a full-sized pie I need to eat by myself. The bakery-made pie is lemon coconut, which is delicious, and a combination I wouldn’t have thought to make myself.

3. I stroll through the woods, admiring the pale yellows and soft greens of early spring (meteorologically; I know astronomically it doesn’t start until Monday).

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

1. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
2. Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
3. A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
4. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
5. Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas
6. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
7. Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful
8. Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
9. Hoops by Matt Taveres
10. Colleen Oakley’s The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

How about you? What are you looking forward to reading this spring?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Volleyball was canceled at the last minute tonight, meaning that the championship week will now happen on a week when I’m in town. It also shrinks that gap between the end of the indoor winter season and the start of the spring outdoor season by another week.

2. The daffodils in my garden and on the Rose Park hillside along Rock Creek Parkway are at peak bloom, offering a cheerful tableau.

3. The wind was brisk on Tuesday when I stopped at a cafe to soak up some sun, rearranging the foam art atop my bowl of hot chocolate and threatening to turn it into spume on the tabletop. I sip quickly to bring the drink level to safer levels.

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

This weekend, I’m hoping to get a few things done:

• Get to the library, where a book I’m really looking forward to has come off hold
• Go to the farmers market
• Play volleyball
• Vacuum
• Bake gingersnaps
• Phone a friend
• Find two more quarters and do laundry
• Start knitting a new sock
• Finish cleaning the bathroom
• Spend time outside
• Visit the bookstore that’s having its quarterly member sale

How about you? What are you hoping to do this weekend?