Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We’ve been able to return to indoor volleyball finally. I have missed my volleyball sneakers, which got less than six months of games before the world shut down. (I could wear them for grass court volleyball, but opt not to in order to keep them nice for as long as possible.) Also, the new permutation of the team seems nice, and I’m not saying that just because they opted to keep me as captain.

2. I got to spend the last hours the outdoor pools were open to the public for the year floating in the deep end. In contrast to the penultimate day, a cool afternoon that threatened to drip, Monday was sunny and warm, and the pool was packed with everyone who hadn’t left town for the long weekend.

3. D.C. is full of triangle parks, caused by intersections between our streets on a grid and state-named streets, which are at a diagonal. They’re clever reclamations of “wasted” space, sometimes holding statues, like the ones near my house, dog parks, or tables and chairs, like the one by the pizzeria, where I took my to-go supper after the staff told me they’d already closed the patio.

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

About to return to the mosaic knitting, just as we’re about to head back to school with Jerry Craft’s Class Act, a second look into the microaggressions a Black kid has to go through at a prep school in New York City.

Grey Kitten and I were talking tonight and I said this song ruined the community pool for me this summer. Not once did anyone break into a song and dance number while I was there, let alone one written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for his hit musical, In the Heights.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share ten books guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I am a sucker for a happy ending, so here goes:

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Epic post-war love story. The movie isn’t as good as the book. Does one even need to say that?)
2. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (Are you a hard-hearted jerk? No? Then this will make you smile.)
3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (I bought, but haven’t yet read, her sophomore novel because I so loved her debut.)
4. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (Combine a love of fall foods, farm life, and friends falling in love in this adorable graphic novel.)
5. Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz (I mean, it’s in the name.)
6. Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover (Who doesn’t love a Hepburnesque Parisian cat burglar/righter of wrongs who loves chocolate bars?)
7. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (If you can read this without laughing, you may need to get your funny bone looked at.)
8. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (The movie is almost as good as the book, but not quite.)
9. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart (You’re going to bawl before you get to the smiles, though.)
10. Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White (I’ve said it before: anything that has me cackling on an airplane is a winner in my opinion.)

How about you? Are there books you’ve read that you’d prescribe for someone feeling down?

Today, I spent time at the farmers market, at the pool, and at the garden. I also fit in a nap on the couch, doing laundry, reading and eating pizza in the park, and talking to Karen on the phone.

I could get used to this…

Another belated post. This time, I’d forgotten to recharge the computer, and I decided rather than posting from my phone I’d just wait and post in the morning.

Yesterday was a very nice start to the three-day weekend. I slept in and then took myself out for a mobile brunch (a bagel with cream cheese from my preferred local bagel shop and tea from the coffee house) on my way to the library-garden-pool loop.

Then in the evening, I met up with Anna and her boyfriend, Greg, for a nearly perfect evening at the ballpark. (Perfect would have involved the Mets winning.) The weather was ideal and the game was followed by fireworks. Anna is one of my long-time volleyball teammates who’s currently recovering from an ACL tear that happened during a game this spring, so I hadn’t seen her in quite some time. But we enjoy each other’s company and always have lots to talk about. And Greg is also great, although we’ve had fewer opportunities to get to know each other.

I’m looking forward to seeing what today holds (I’m about to feed the cat and hit the farmers market.) Scattered showers are predicted, which won’t affect my ability to swim, but may make lounging poolside less desirable. We’ll see.

Have a great Sunday!