Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. Rudi is a computer person and a self-proclaimed Mac Geek. Because of this, he is periodically called upon to provide personal computer help with friends, family members, acquaintances, and random people on the street. Sunday, he went to help a fellow DC for Democracy member with a laptop problem. Michelle is in grad school and her laptop had had some issues. Another DC4D member, Joanne, had a spare, unwanted, unused Mac laptop gathering dust in a closet and offered it to her to use until hers returned from its repair jaunt. Unfortunately, the second laptop had hard drive issues, so Rudi was called upon to salvage stuff from the second laptop to put back on the first laptop. In the end, Michelle left happy with her original laptop complete with all her work from Joanne’s machine. Michelle had no need for a second laptop, particularly one with a dead hard drive. And Joanne didn’t want her machine back because she hadn’t been using it. So they both told Rudi to keep it!

We have a laptop. We have a laptop in the month when I have to write a novel. We have a laptop so I can go to the coffeeshop and get out of the apartment on weekends and so I can write in the car while we’re driving to Connecticut for Thanksgiving (don’t worry — I’ll only write on the portions when I’m the passenger!).

We so have to pay this forward. Thank you Michelle and Joanne!!!!!!!

2. The Japanese maple by the Indonesian embassy in D.C. has turned purple for the fall season, which allowed me to walk under a violet canopy in the rain on my way to the Metro yesterday morning. This morning was sunny and warm, so I walked the 2 1/2 miles to work, kicking through dried leaves along the sidewalk. The trees were dancing, brilliant against a blue backdrop. The smell of fall has finally permeated the D.C. air and it is hard not to revel in being alive.

3. When I walked to work on Tuesday, I passed by a liquor store that clearly believed in celebrating Halloween year-round. The sign in their back lot read, “Parking for Costumers Only.”