TODAY begins two days of things that make readers smile.

It's the second part of the "Gripes & Grins" write-in that happens at this time each year.

Unlike the gripes, which I've already shared, grins sent in by readers are often about smaller things in life.

Lou Cubbage of Culpeper said her grins are everyday things.

Like a flock of geese flying in a V formation, the early daffodils, that first sip of coffee in the morning, a hawk sitting on a fence post, deer feeding in a field and "seeing my granddaughter's face as she comes out of school."

Ana Maria Pierce of Lake of the Woods immediately thought of the way a neighbor handed her his car keys not long ago when she had an emergency and her car wouldn't start.

"I was a nervous wreck as it was getting late and I'd exhausted other avenues," she said. "He didn't ask for details, when I'd be back, etc. He just put the keys in my hand and went back into his house."

She said the neighbor was a friend, but not someone she'd socialized much with.

"He set an example for me and for those I've shared the story with," she said. "If others read this, maybe they'll be inspired to be angels, too."

Edward MacMichael of Orange County said that despite a terrible economy and other negatives, he's pleased each morning to know several things.

Namely, that he has his wife, who is also his best friend; that he can find serenity and calm looking out at the landscape from his deck; and that "I have the freedom to send this e-mail and feel good about it."

Mary McCann of Stafford County said few things make her feel better than the peacefulness of Curtis Lake.

Other things on her list of grins: the helpful staff at local schools, Bradford pears when they bud and bloom and the fact that "Carl's is open!"

Heidi Helwig of Spotsylvania County said her day gets better whenever she encounters a random act of kindness.