Why Not Smile?

I'm just back from the Hare and Hounds where friend H kindly stood me dinner, as a thankyou in anticipation for cat care while she is in Pembrokeshire. Yes, she's off to camp alongside the yurt for five nights, and I think I'm feeling a bit melancholy-envious. Still, the red Thai prawn curry was delicious...

L's last text from Filey read Sitting on beach in hot sun. Loads of families here. We hired deck chairs. So I'm guessing she's having a pretty good time.

The meeting with my supervisor went so well that I seem to have regressed to about 6 in the aftermath, suddenly overwhelmed by the responsibilities of adulthood. What I mean is that C is so very confident in my abilities that I feel I have an unreserved green light, and the project suddenly feels very very real, and the back-wash to that seems to be a tidal wave of fear. All of this is fine really. It's how I am. Three steps forward, one step back, but always generally moving forward. The main thing is to hold the little girl's hand when she wobbles.

I'm listening to REM, something reserved for L's absences, and something I did a great deal the year I was commuting back and forth to London - in the kitchen during the London part of the week. My friend K made this compilation tape (yes, a tape!) for me, and I simply love it, though I know REM in no other context.
You've been so sad,
it makes me worry,
why not smile?
You've been sad for a while.
Why not smile?
Which possibly sounds quite inane out of context...