The spirit grows weary with the weight of woe in the world at large. The litany of distress and wrong-doing and cruelty and ill-will seems never-ending. It is hard to take an optimistic view of anything. Dire warnings and forbidding futures fill the commentaries here and everywhere. If I began to list the on-going horrors and looming threats this column would only end when the editor cried halt. Make your own list and you will see what I mean.
How does one find relief? Looking back over my life it comes home to me how much depends on meeting and knowing people whose make-up includes an invincible optimism, lightness of spirit, goodwill and what one can only call sweetness of nature.