Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A prolonged chunk of vacation.

2. FaceTiming with my folks during the parade.

3. An afternoon out with Sarah.

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

Also, if you’ve left me a comment about the Virtual Advent Tour, expect an email tomorrow.

May I present a finished pair of Thanksgiving socks? And a book I picked up Monday that I’m really excited to read?

Head to As Kat Knits for more loquacious crafters and readers.

I lean heavily vegetarian, which means that when I decided going home for Thanksgiving wasn’t going to be an option this year, I decided to forgo the turkey and gravy. Instead, my (coffee) table will be piled high with side dishes, including:

• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Sweet potato medallions (Mum & I won’t have to squabble over my desire to leave the skin on)
• Squash (possibly stuffed) or maybe pumpkin pasties
• Corn pudding
• Cranberry
• Carrots and peppers
• Broccoli or maybe green beans
• Salad
• Cheese and crackers
• Pie

I’m aiming for 2 servings of everything except the stuffing, the cranberry, and the pie. I’ll be very happy if those linger on for a few more days.

Wow. That’s a lot of cooking I need to do over the next 40 hours. I guess I’d better get moving early tomorrow.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share what we’re thankful for this year:

1. Our family: I think Rudi and I surprised ourselves by how well we adapted to being in close quarters all the time. My parents and I talk multiple times a week. And my brother and his partner and I have seen more of each other this year via video chat than we have in years.
2. Corey: My dear lump of a cat, with his two speeds — barreling and asleep. He’s been very snuggly this year and very chatty, and our lives would be so much less without him.
3. Our health: We and our immediate families have remained relatively healthy through this year, as have our extended families. 2020 continues to hammer home that this is not something to be taken for granted.
4. Our friends: Whether the ones here in D.C. who would respond to the Bat Signal if I raised it, or the ones further afield who text and call and video chat and email, this year would be so much harder without them.
5. Security: I have an apartment I can afford. I have a job that pays enough to cover my bills and that values my health and safety enough to let me do it from home. I have a family that valued budgeting and saving and that passed that economical mindset on to give us a cushion.
6. Flexibility: Rudi has been without full-time employment for a while, and never have we been so grateful for that as when he needed to uproot things and spend a couple months out with his mom.
7. D.C.’s small businesses: I’m not going to lie: We’re seeing a lot of empty storefronts around here, and more venues are closing every week. But so far, all of our bookstores have survived. Many of our restaurants and bakeries and the farmers at our markets. The mom and pop grocery stores where you can find flour and toilet paper and cleaning supplies when the chain stores’ shelves are empty. Buying local has been important in past years, but this year local has shown us that they are here for us and that our support is tangible.
8. My garden: It’s been an oasis this year, particularly back in the spring when everything was just hard in the city. I planted less variety this year, but harvested a lot, from pounds of tomatoes to, for the first time ever, footlong cucumbers and stripey summer squash.
9. Our local libraries: They haven’t reopened for browsing since March, but they will let you request holds and come pick them up. And that has allowed us to read books and watch films in a somewhat normal fashion. And anything that feels even semi-normal is something to be embraced.
10. Voters: This year has been hard, but I do not even want to imagine what the next four months would look like if the voters of the U.S. hadn’t declared that they were ready for adults to take back over the federal government. Are these adults perfect? Nope. Will I disagree with many of their methods and policies? Undoubtedly. But I believe that they have our best interests at heart over self-interest? Absolutely.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

Oh, and, hey, while you’re here: The Virtual Advent Tour starts a week from today. Wouldn’t you like to take part?

Ride #6 of the 2020 Coffeeneuring season was to the coffee place with the best name, which is saying something since I’ve already visited a place called The Roasted Boon.

Harpeth Swill
1801 Wyoming Ave., N.W.
Saturday, Nov. 14, late afternoon
Conditions: Pleasant

Harpeth Swill has two locations in D.C. now. I went to the original location in Adams Morgan, which is also, I believe, where Sweet Science got its start.

Harpeth is the Tennessee river near where the founder grew up, which could potentially make the name slightly less interesting. But I argue that for a Southernesque coffee outfit, heavily invested in the Mason jar aesthetic, it still works. They are a cold-brew shop, which means they have put their fireplace and their counters to good use, as you can see in the shot above.

This year has just been a challenge for my getting out of the house early enough to do rides properly, so this was, once again, eked out just before closing time. (To be fair, everyone is also closing earlier this year, so it’s not entirely on me.)

I locked up to a street sign, because there were no bike racks on this section of block, but it is just across the street from a Cabi station, should you want to arrive via a borrowed ride.

I opted for a chai tea and a Whisked pretzel cowboy cookie, which I consumed on their patio in a rocking chair while reading. (They were technically closed by this point and this was the only furniture left.) It was probably closer to the sidewalk than I would have preferred, so I kept pulling my mask back on, but it worked for the half hour I was sitting there.

Mileage: 3.35 miles

If you’re looking for inexpensive flowers, Trader Joe’s is a really great source. These are from the past two Sundays. The blue pitcher was scrounged out of a freebie pile (one of the best things about city living…).