Today’s blog post is dedicated to Sara Coward, who plays Caroline Sterling in the Archers, in support of her SM:)E campaign. Battling the last stages of cancer, Sara has launched a campaign “to help spread kindness and make people more aware of how important it is to be decent to one another”. She is asking people to post their recent acts of kindness on social media using the hashtag #milesofsmiles. I don’t think I’ve done anything kind or gallant today, but I know of someone who has. Thanks to Cheryl for posting the story of the Shish restaurant offering free Christmas lunch to the homeless and elederly, so that “no-one has to eat alone”. Christmas is such a miserable time of year for so many people, and I say three cheers for Shish in trying to make it at least tolerable, if not jolly, for some. So they get my #milesofsmiles award for today and what better opera with which to celebrate both these gestures than Lehár’s Das Land des Lächelns – The Land of Smiles. The selected track is Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (my entire heart is yours) and I’ve chosen two videos to go with it. This one is Fritz Wunderlich and this one is Richard Tauber, a lovely old crackly version and a dress sense that would bring a smile to anyone’s face.