1.1.11

I usually try to start the New Year off with a post that has a smile in it (see Sharing a Ride). The subtle smile shown above is on a bronze statue of Buddha from Ho Phra Keo (Altar of the Emerald Buddha) in Vientiane, Laos. [NOTE: The Emerald Buddha is actually carved from a single block of jade. Laotians took the celebrated statue from Northern Thailand in 1551; the Thai invaded Vientiane, stormed the temple, and took the statue back to Bangkok in 1778].