Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. My folks built their first fire of the season Saturday night. The flames crackled and flared and sent the delicious scent of burning wood wafting into the corners of the house.

2. The Mets swept the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. I feel good about how they played, but I also don’t think the Cards are going to roll over without a fight in the NLCS series that begins tonight.

3. Rudi and I normally drive up to Connecticut after work on a Friday night in order to maximize our time there. However, although we wanted this visit to be a surprise, it would not have been a nice surprise for my family if we’d arrived unannounced at 2 a.m. So we headed up Saturday morning instead. It’s amazing how a drive that you’ve made a hundred times can look utterly different when you make it at a different time of day. Who knew that the ride was so lovely?