Thinning like the extremes of a great forest
Smoky is making his first trip to Edgewood to marry his future wife, Alice Drinkwater. However, Smoky is given instructions that he must travel on foot. He passes through the disordered streets, and the author uses a simile to describe them. The author writes, "The regular blocks of commercial avenues and residential streets began gradually to become disordered, thinning like the extremes of a great forest." The simile in this context is significant because it shows the country house in Edgewood is in the middle of nowhere in New York. During the design of the house, the architect intended to make it unique and build it in a unique place within the city.
Shuffling children like a pack of cards
The author reflects on Smoky’s intelligence, and one of the things he did for a while was trying to match things to achieve the desired results. When free, he would do crosswords and puzzles in daily papers and compare them to shuffling children like a pack of cards. The author writes, "He would pass the time there shuffling his brothers and sisters and their children like a pack of cards." Smoky’s ability to match things enabled him to solve complex problems in his life. For instance, the first time he visits Edgewood, he uses his imagination and manages to locate the place in the middle of nowhere.
Looking like the girl on the soda bottle
The author compares Alice Daily Drinkwater's physical appearance to the soda bottle girl. The author writes, "She looked a lot like the girl on the soda bottle, though not so delicate and lacking wings." The simile is used here to emphasize Alice's beauty. Smoky has a taste when choosing anything, and this time round, he chooses the most beautiful woman from the Drinkwater family to be his future wife.
