Folks, it’s sunny here! Sun! Blue skies! Sun!

(Okay, as anyone from New England knows, a clear bright day in the middle of winter means cold weather is impending. But, really, it’s only just around freezing right now, so I don’t think it’s that bad out. This weekend might be another story, when I plan to stand outside for hours at a free concert, but for today, it just adds to my general giddiness.)

And on that note, I offer you three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Monday mornings are tough normally and this week was even harder than usual. I am feeling glum as I hurry from the metro station to my office, when I pass an older woman on the sidewalk. Our eyes meet and I smile reflexively. She smiles back and the day feels more possible.

2. A possum skirts the window well on her way out into the neighborhood just about 8 every night. None of the cats have noticed until this week when Della is on my lap when it happens. She was also there last night when a raccoon waddled past. If it weren’t so cold by the window, I suspect she’d set up camp to watch for intruders…

3. I win the December raffle of free cookies from AlbuqCookie, a company I learned about from the knitblogger who did their photography back this summer. The owner contacted me to find out where he should send my prize and I told him he’d brightened my sick day. When the cookies arrived, he’d included a note hoping the cookies would help me feel better. (The cookies, you ask: Chocolate piñon biscotti. Delicious. Solid without being hard. Definitely fresh. High quality chocolate and tasty pine nuts… From a previous purchase I can also recommend their pistachio chocolate chip biscotti (which have cranberries in them) and their green chile pecan sandia cookies, which have more kick than the chocolate pepper chile shortbread.)