Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Wednesday was a gorgeously warm day, so I spent a good portion of the afternoon and evening outside. As I was talking with my mom on the phone, I caught the reflection of the sunset and moved to get a better angle. Wow!

2. Usually dinners when Rudi is away are a pretty hit-or-miss affair. Sometimes leftovers, sometimes bowls of cereal, and occasionally something easy I can cobble together on my own. Last Sunday’s fell into the latter category, but was a fresh baguette, microwavable fondue we bought earlier in the winter for just this occasion, and a glass (in a real wine glass!) of sparkling cider that’s been sitting unopened in the fridge for months.

3. Mulch is one of those scents, like fallen ginkgo fruit, that is mostly unpleasant. But it’s also so specifically of a moment in time that when I smell it, I’m immediately moved. Workers have been redoing beds all over the region this week in the lead-up to the warmer weather and cherry blossom crowds, and it’s hard to walk for far without the pointed odor of worked tree and planter boxes and front landscaping poking your brain and reminding you that spring is here.

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