From the ArcaMax Publishing, Vocabulary Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/vocabulary/s-340072-672834
genial \JEEN-yuhl; JEE-nee-uhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Friendly, warm;
kindly; sympathetically cheerful and cheering. 2 : Mild, pleasant;
comfortable; favorable to life or growth.
"She, like he, like all beings in this happy valley with its genial
clime, goes always naked, stark staring, as someone's said, wearing
nothing daylong but the shells and beads braided into her black hair."
-- Robert Coover, 'Ghost Town'
Genial comes from Latin genialis, "relating to enjoyment; joyful,"
from genius, "guardian spirit; spirit of enjoyment."