Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. We took Gramma home on Monday on our way back to D.C., and she offered us a bite to eat while we were waiting out the traffic at her house. It started out as leftover soup she’d frozen. Then she brought out leftover frozen chicken for sandwiches, dug out some leftover stuffing, and remembered some leftover gravy. By the time she was done finding everything, Rudi and I had had quite a lovely feast. Why do our leftovers never taste so good? It must be the grandmotherly magic…

2. Spring in Connecticut is several weeks behind D.C., so I wasn’t really surprised to see violets still growing on Gramma’s lawn. But I was surprised to see the lilies of the valley growing in her garden. We don’t even have them down here yet — unless they went so quickly I missed them altogether. It’s really cool when you get to see your two favorite flowers at once.

3. After hunting around for a while and making Rudi hang out in the coat section of far too many Marshalls and T.J. Maxx stores, I found one up in Connecticut. It’s a peachy yellow with pretty pink flowers on it and doesn’t make me look like I’m wearing a frumpy bathrobe. I feel so cheerful in the rain now (D.C. obliged me by giving me two day’s worth of rain upon my return).

Independent America, a multi-media blog by wife-and-husband team Heather and Hanson, is two weeks into their two-month journey across America. They eschew interstates, box stores, and chain restaurants and hotels, instead seeking out the “Mom-n-Pop” experiences of America.

If you do check out their site, I recommend clicking on the calendar on the left and starting with them on May 8, just before they start on their journey.

Thanks to why.i.hate.dc, I have discovered the JFK and I reached the same conclusions about D.C.:

“Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm,” said Kennedy.

I didn’t put it with the same charm on March 17, but I wrote, “It combines the rudeness of New York with the sluggishness of Mississippi.”

(I admit I said this without ever having visited Mississippi. You may accuse me of stereotyping. But of course some of the New Yorkers I know are very nice, so my generalizations went both ways.)