Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Anna had a belated birthday party, so we got a chance to see her and Greg’s new house. It’s very nice, with a back deck to enjoy on pleasant evenings, and we spent a little while out there talking with them after everyone else left. They said it was their first party ever, so it felt lovely to be included.

2. I harvested what, to this point, is the only squash of this summer’s gardening. There are some more flowers on the plant, so there’s a chance that I could get more.

3. I’m up in Connecticut this weekend, so not around for the final days of the outdoor pool season. So Wednesday afternoon, I headed over and spent a little while paddling around the pool. I didn’t get to the pool as much as I’d meant to this summer, but some is better than not at all.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We played volleyball until past seven on Saturday. We were exhausted, but the sun had been relentless, the skies cloudless, and the humidity punishing all afternoon. By the time our court was finally shaded by park’s tree border, we couldn’t just leave. So eleven of us played on, pouring our all into the final matches, clothes soaked through, but sunglasses finally abandoned, before we packed up for the week and headed for supper.

2. Rebecca, my D.C. friend, as opposed to dearest Rebs, turned 25 this week and invited us to join her birthday celebration Friday evening on the roof deck of Union Market. I met a couple of her non-volleyball friends, but otherwise got a chance to spend time with the Saturday volleyballers in street clothes.

3. The heat and humidity broke earlier this week and this afternoon’s baseball game required a sweatshirt!

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

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl focuses on doorstoppers, the type of book that you can use to weigh down a beach blanket on a breezy day. I decided to share the ten longest books on my Goodreads want-to-read list:

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1276 pages)
2. Collected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich (1164 pages)
3. Divine Days by Leon Forrest (1135 pages)
4. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (916 pages)
5. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (848 pages)
6. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by Henry Watson Fowler (825 pages)
7. The Saga of Icelanders edited by Jane Smiley (782 pages)
8. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (776 pages)
9. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (752 pages)
10. Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford by Jessica Mitford (744 pages)

How about you? Do you have any lengthy tomes you’d recommend I pick up?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Introducing the cats to bubbles. We’ve never had cats who’ve taken to them before, and some have found bubbles quite distressing. So we didn’t have high expectations, but both they and we have found this a delightful new pastime. Ember spikes them like volleyballs. Coal takes turns hitting them with one paw, then the other, and then using both.

2. Salads brimming with the tiny cherry tomatoes from our garden. Nothing tastes quite so good as supper you’ve helped grow.

3. Discovering the vending machine in the food hall nearby that offers books by local authors instead of snacks. Desperately need a hit of poetry to get through a lagging afternoon? Got you covered! A y.a. novel to appease the younger sibling while the older one is getting a campus tour? Done! I look forward to finding these in more locations, like train stations and airports.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi is back home!

2. Jess invited the team to her potluck barbecue last Saturday. A bunch of us were able to go on what turned out to be a lovely afternoon for a cookout, and my peanut butter cookies were a hit.

3. The weather this week has been spectacularly pleasant, if occasionally a bit hazy from the Canadian wildfire smoke. I’ve gardened, read outside, watched baseball with Sarah, played volleyball, and walked and biked a bunch. It heats back up next week, so I have a handful more days to soak this up.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Jason and I are taking refuge from the rain in a bus shelter as the sun begins to emerge from the clouds. “With the clearing, there should be — yep! There it is — a rainbow — above the bus, between the buildings!” The woman in the opposite corner says, “You weren’t talking to me, but you made my night. Thanks!”

2. Two of the guys who play pickup with us are moving away, so I bake oatmeal scotchies. Everyone marvels, and I reply that it’s a recipe my grandmother used to make that seems to have fallen out of rotation, based on people’s reactions. “Can you share the recipe?” one woman asks. “Sure. You can find it on the back of the butterscotch chips package!”

3. I do not play well Wednesday night and I say that to the teammates who go out for dinner and drinks after we lose the final. “We win together and we lose together,” they reply, and I believe them.

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