The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

Smile!

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 A smile is the effect that affects. And infects. A smile is a quiet greeting, or underscores sincerity in a spoken one. A smile rolls out the red carpet of hospitality and turns politicians into celebrities. It may seal a hard-earned victory or salt the wounds of the defeated. The frown of the worldly great is the smile of sophisticated majesty. Socrates’ executioners smiled down on him in vain-glory and he smiled back, stealing their joy. A smile disarms difficulty. It can be gracious or ghastly. It masks what is hidden in the heart, or unashamedly unleashes everything contained therein. A smile could just mean you are happy! Morning smiles on the earth and all things smile in return.


“You can smile when you can’t say a word

 You can smile when you cannot be heard

 You can smile when it’s cloudy or fair,

 You can smile anytime, anywhere.”






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