Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. On Monday, I took the day off from work, and Rudi and I drove to Delaware for the day to go to Bethany Beach. There was a steady 20 mph breeze, which meant that a fine shower of sand literally rained down upon us for several hours, covering our blanket — and us — with a layer of granules. Otherwise, we had a lovely day. We waded in the water, soaked up some sun (clear skies and low 80s), and ate fish sandwiches and Dairy Queen Blizzards (our favorite ice cream shop just off the boardwalk is still only open on the weekend at this point in the season) and doughnuts from a new-to-us chain. We stopped at a farm stand for strawberries and pickles. And we were home in time for our favorite tv show.

2. The purple irises at the park by our house have bloomed, filling the hillside verge with deep violets and greens.

3. We finally got to our first baseball game of the season on Friday when the Mets came to town. It was a pleasant evening for a game under the lights and, despite a shaky showing by the bullpen, the Mets pulled off a win. (We also went today for a day game with Sarah and one of her friends, in which the Nationals held off the Arizona Diamondbacks.)

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