Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo

It's Bilbo and Frodo's birthday today.

If you don't know who they are you should and if you've read this blog before you should know that I am a fan of all things about The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings and even some obacure things about our friend JRRT.

I am a huge fan of both The Hobbit and The LOTR, but more so of the LOTR. I have an annual habit or practice or whatever to either watch or read the entire LOTR each summer. This year I decided to read it and am slowly making my way through the story. the problem is that I am also making my way through a few other works. I am trying to finish "The girl who kicked over the hornets nest" which is the third book in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy. I am also slowly working through "Into the Wild", not the jack London piece but the one about Chris McCandless.

So, here's a question for you, when reading a book that is fictional do you ever think of the characters as real and wonder how they are doing? Or is it just me? Let me know, maybe that will be the next poll question, clearly there is very little interest in the Leafs and seeing how they did last night I think I better go and cancel that parade.

have a great week y'all.........................

Reading in the sunshine

Oh what a glorious day it has been.

I spent some time reading The Lord of The Rings and listening to the soundtrack of all three films at the same time. I didn't get through all the sound tracks mind you, but I did get through about half the first chapter. For accuracy's sake, I read from half the first chapter to half the second chapter.

I am amazed how much more detail I get each time I read the book. I haven't read them in years, but there is so much to get from them. In fact, one of my favourite quotes is from the first portion of the book. In the film, it is saved for Gandalf's chat with Frodo while stuck in Moria, but in the book it actually happens in Bag End. Frodo exclaims: "I wish it need not have happened in my time" and Gandalf says to Frodo, "so do I , and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us".

Wow, "all" is so encompassing, "decide" is so powerful, "time" is limited by what is "given" to us. To be sure the events that life has given me over the last two plus years have provided me with an array of experiences. Just sitting in the sunshine, enjoying words and music cause me to think so much about life. Life, with is seeming unfairness sometimes stinks. In spite of the depth of my faith, I sometimes just want to rail at life and scream why! Maybe it's the depth that stops me when I look at people like Job or Paul or Peter or Jesus and see that they too lived a life that was "unfair". I recall my retort to my children when they complained about the unfairness of life and I would say: "life's not fair" and it isn't.

Reading in the sunshine reminds me that in the beauty of all that is good, there remains that which is evil and because of that evil we live in an unfair and imperfect world. All I have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to me................hmm what will I decide to do?

And so it begins

For many years now I have taken some time during my summer holidays to read and/or watch the entire Lord of The Rings. Since we purchased the extended versions of the movie, I have spent one day watching the entire story. It takes many hours, but it is one of my favourite things(cue Julie Andrews).

This year, though, I am planning on reading it. It will definitely take more than a day to read it. So, today begins my annual journey to middle earth. I have been doing this annually for longer than I can remember. I was first introduced to the work of Tolkien in the early seventies, while staying at a friends cottage on Rainbow beach, past Leith and Annan.

I have eight more weeks of recuperation and I hope to complete this journey in that time.