Thursday? Really? Come and gone already? Are you sure?

Okay, fine. So that means it’s time to look back at Three Beautiful Things from the past week. In addition to D.C.’s marriage equality bill taking effect (and there’s not much more beautiful than that…), here are three more random moments from the past week:

1. I groused about the hockey final on Sunday and I really didn’t watch any of it even though I was in the house for the final period or so. But I have to say that I was roused from under my iPod headphones by the sheer joy of the Canadian national anthem being sung along to by anyone with even a passing affiliation with the nation. I’m pretty sure that even if Rudi had turned off the tv, I would still have heard it loud and clear, nearly a thousand miles south of the border. Hockey is their sport. It was their Olympics. And it was a fitting conclusion to the event.

2. In areas that were under two feet of snow two weeks ago and still a bit icy last week, I saw green bulbs pushing out of the earth all over this week and pussy willow catkins in one front yard. Sarah found an even more hopeful sign that spring is nearly here with her first crocus of the season.

3. My friend Susan has been miserable at her job for months now. She called up Saturday to say she’d quit and to invite us over for a celebratory dinner. She looked so calm, happy, and relaxed (despite not yet knowing what her future might hold), that it was impossible to believe this decision was anything but the perfect move for her.

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

We were supposed to head up to Connecticut last weekend, but I drive so infrequently these days that I wimped out at the thought of traversing the mid-Atlantic and southern New England through a significant winter storm. We postponed until this weekend, so will be heading north tomorrow. I’ll try to post from my folks’, but I’m going to see Karen and Marshall and Gramma’s having a birthday, so the blog may remain quiet in lieu of real life.