I’m home from my trip to Connecticut, which sped past ridiculously fast. I hope to get back again soon.

Flights were very expensive, so I took the train up and back (to the same town where the airport is located). I admit that I may have picked up my knitting every time we got to a stop today in order to discourage anyone from taking the vacant seat next to me.

Here’s some of what I spied from the train on the way back to D.C.:

One of the graveyards, Holy Trinity Cemetery, in my hometown:

We stopped for a while in New Haven to change engines, and I decided I had enough time to run into the train station and pick up a couple doughnuts. You know, as souvenirs … that I ate on the trip home.

NYC:

Philly (the first photo is Boathouse Row):

Bridget, did you see me waving as we went past?

After the jump, you’ll find the answers to Saturday’s ’80s music quiz. (more…)

My mother’s yard is full of pollinator-friendly flowers and I snapped photos of two swallowtails this evening as we were working outside.

I’m really sleepy, so will give everyone one more day with yesterday’s quiz before revealing the answers.

As I was driving back to my folks’ this evening, the radio station I was listening to was highlighting all the songs that were #1 on this weekend through the 1980s. Since these were the songs of my elementary and middle school days, I particularly enjoyed singing along. It is either an excellent memory booster to reach for lyrics of songs you haven’t heard in ages or a complete waste of valuable brain space. I’m going with option a.

Because I would like you to have excellent brains, too, I’m sharing the 10 songs that hit the top spot of the pop singles list the first week of each August during the 1980s. To make it a challenge for you, I’m arranging them alphabetically, and should you feel up to it, you can guess their order from 1980 to 1989.

“Every Breath You Take” by The Police

“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor

“Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr.

“Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2

“Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

“Magic” by Olivia Newton-John

“Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx

“Roll with It” by Steve Winwood

“Shout” by Tears for Fears

I’ll be back tomorrow with the answers.

I’m hanging out in Connecticut this weekend, so this will not be my view for the next few days, although my parents do also get views of airplanes.

We feasted on pizza this evening and spent a pleasant pre-sunset hour on the back deck singing along with music. I’m getting together with Karen tomorrow and suspect Sunday may include helping my folks with some home improvement projects.

All in all, I’m looking forward to this escape from my norm, at least for a little while.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I bought a couple new dresses and got a haircut.

2. I tried blueberry and white chocolate ice cream. It was delicious!

3. There is a fig tree near the garden, so Rudi and I went and picked some of the ripe ones. Our fingers were very sticky when we were done.

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