The Hobbit Hole IX - A sudden tree or standing stone

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[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

A sudden tree or standing stone

• First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit hole
• Second thread: The New Hobbit Hole
• Third thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!)
• Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...
• Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...
• Sixth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...
• Seventh Thread: The Hobbit Hole VII - But not yet weary are our feet...
• Eighth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VIII - Still round the corner we may meet...

New verse:

Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen but we alone. Tree and flower and leaf and grass, Let them pass! Let them pass! Hill and water under sky, Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And though we pass them by today, Tomorrow we may come this way And take the hidden paths that run Towards the Moon or to the Sun. Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go! Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight. Then world behind and home ahead, We’ll wander back to home and bed. Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, Away shall fade! Away shall fade! Fire and lamp, and meat and bread, And then to bed! And then to bed!

See also: http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net

Web page for our moot reports and troop support information!

[Alkhin]

seems like all the cats I ever had as pets looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to train them on the scratching post. Does anyone know anything about rabbits as housepets????

[Alkhin]

I like sashimi as well...tried raw fish and just couldn't swallow it...but I like the shrimp, eel, etc. The local HEB (a Texas grocery store for those who dont know) has a really nice sushi/sashimi bar. They fix spider rolls (using tempura fried softshell crab) which I absolutely love.

[Fedora]

After scanning my shelves it looks like the earliest Heinlein book I have handy is Methusaleh's Children, so I've been reading that for the past hour or so while I've been scanning my computer for viruses. This is the first book of Heinlein's I've read which had a future history diagram included in it, which is fascinating. I never cease to be impressed by not only Heinlein's technological innovations (for instance the self-driving car in this one) but also the nonchalant way he works it into the story without stopping the plot place to digress into the tech side of it. Lazarus Long is a cool character who reminds me somewhat of the hero in Puppet Masters. The social conflict between the normal humans and the long-lived humans seems to foreshadow X-Men in many ways.

I think after I finish this I want to read Sixth Column if I can find a copy. I'm trying to read Heinelin's books in approximate chronological order as much as possible. Will need to find some of his early stuff I don't have, though--after this and Puppet Masters the next thing I have is Revolt in 2100. Is there a good Heinlein anthology with some of his early short stories/juveniles collected?

[JenB]

There are three anthologies of Heinlein shorts: The Green Hills of Earth, The Man Who Sold the Moon, and The Menace From Earth. Each has some really excellent stories, and some less excellent.

Other than the shorts, I like the juveniles, Starship Troopers, Puppet Masters, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I dislike the other later stuff.

[Alkhin]

innybody dere????

[Wneighbor]

Hey Alkhin! I'm here. Checkin' back every little bit. :-)

[Alkhin]

(((Wneighbor)))

the daughter is at her grandparents and hubby is crooning over his telescope, so I have time when I can chat on FR tonight...guess everyone is worn out from memorial services. :D

[Fedora]

There are three anthologies of Heinlein shorts: The Green Hills of Earth, The Man Who Sold the Moon, and The Menace From Earth. Each has some really excellent stories, and some less excellent.

Thanks! I just checked and it looks like I can get all those through interlibrary loan--yay! :)

Other than the shorts, I like the juveniles, Starship Troopers, Puppet Masters, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I dislike the other later stuff.

I like Starship Troopers and Puppet Masters a lot. I'm just starting to get into the juveniles--have Podkayne of Mars checked out but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I own a copy of Moon is a Harsh Mistress so I can read that when I get that far in Heinlein's corpus.

Get any writing done today?

[300winmag]

You need to set yourself up as a CAD service bureau for custom chopper makers. Get all the model data from the engine, wheel, and frame makers, then design the custom brackets, etc. that the builders needs. Pretty soon, you'll have your own series, "American Chopperette".

[Wneighbor]

((Alkhin))

Cool news that you can chat! Tell me how the new house/neighborhood is working out. Is it all you'd hoped it would be? :-)

I've had a lazy day. Last night my friend Celia called me to come over for a cookout. We ended up watching movies all night. I didn't get home till about 3 this morning so I ended up sleeping all afternoon. Not a bad thing actually! :-)

[Wneighbor]

You need to set yourself up as a CAD service bureau for custom chopper makers. Get all the model data from the engine, wheel, and frame makers, then design the custom brackets, etc. that the builders needs. Pretty soon, you'll have your own series, "American Chopperette".

Oh man!!! I could really get into that design job! All the time I've tried for jobs like that I never got any response at all. Would love to work on some kind of motorcycle or auto custom design team. *excitement shiver*

[JenB]

Yes, over 2k so far. I've got to weld together this one chapter, hopefully before bedtime; it's the linchpin for the rest of the story.

I still have way too much talk and way too little action. Ah well.

[Alkhin]

The New House is slowly getting knocked into living order...Chief has put up lots of shelves in the garage and we are pulling out things from storage to go through and so we dont have to pay rent on storage anymore. I finally got my sewing machine out of storage, so I'll be doing lots of sewing this summer. The people that moved in across from us, from day one, have been a HUGE thorn in everyone's side, becaue their punk teenage son has no concept of respect or discipline. He is always trying his best to find ways to tick everyone off, like playing the boom box of his parents car as loud as he can (whenever they arent home) and yet when anyone asks him to stop he goes and whines to them about how badlyt they treat him. He once lied to his mother that I had cussed him out one afternoon when all I had done was ask them VERY politely to turn down the bass of their music as it was going through the walls and I could FEEl the vibrations. She came over to complain to me and ask me why I was so hateful. From then on out, we decided we werent ever going to talk to them at all.

Apparently, the Home Owners Assoc has been recieving LOTS of letters about these people. Also, they have been through SEVEN cars since they moved in, two of which we have pretty much summed up were trashed by the 17 yr old. His little red hot rod that he was so proud of ended up smashed and in a used car lot where it got towed to, never to be seen again, ostensibly because they dropped the insurance once they bought the car for him. He has managed to trash the engines of the other cars, and they are down to the use of ONE car, despite the two gutted out ones in the garage, one of which is a burnt orange pickup truck, the kind you see certain ethnic groups go through the trouble of hiking the back end up, and the other a really old car with no inside that he decided to park on the curb, but is now inside the garage with a tarp over it most of the time. Seems someone took exception to him turning the neighborhood into a barrio parking lot.

Aside from those weeds in the new garden of the subdivision, life is SO much quieter. Because we have the creek behind us, we have fairly clear skies, and all sorts of wildlife makes its presence known. I have heard several species of birds, beyond the typical mockingbird, and a turtle paid a visit to our backyard, coming up from the creek. We also found a green grass snake, a pretty little thing, but we let it go, finding out that they dont survive captivity very well.

I am SO glad school is over because I was very tired of driving for an hour twice a day just to drop off/pick up Erin. In the fall, I will have to find a job, but for now I will enjoy the summer.

W, is there a donation I can make to all the packages you send? I havent done SQUAT for anything anyone has done here for our troups, not to mention the knives and all. My conscience has bothered me that I have gained the wonderful privilege of being included amongst the HHDwellers who have contributed their time and money and effort, but have not individually done what I could. It can't be much of a donation, as what we had left after we moved in and took care of the things we had set up on our list of "must haves" we put the remainder into investments. But I would like to at least make my membership of the HH a legitimate one.

[Alkhin]

Are you doing that Novel in a Month thing??

[JenB]

No, that's in November. I'm just writing. I've neglected my writing horribly lately, and I decided to kick myself into gear over the long weekend. It worked! I've written close to 15k of words. My story should be half-done in a week or so, since I don't think I can keep this pace up much longer.

Of course, it'll take about seven years to edit into what I want it to be.

[Fedora]

Yes, over 2k so far.

Not bad! You're making progress :)

I've got to weld together this one chapter, hopefully before bedtime; it's the linchpin for the rest of the story.

Is the story as you're writing it now consistent with what you wrote before or did you take it in a new direction?

I still have way too much talk and way too little action. Ah well.

Well, the editor's got to have something to complain about to justify their existence, right? :)

I'm half-done with Methuselah's Children. When I get done I'm going to work on my novel a bit.

[Fedora]

PS: How's uncool sister doing with the anime fest? Has she been seen since she disappeared with Kenshin? :)

[Wneighbor]

I remember you talking about that teenage neighbor before. That is really a dark spot on all the cool new stuff but I'm at least glad there is only that one!

I think it's awesome that ya'll are on a creek. There were a lot of hard things when I was with my mom and dad as a kid. But, the thing that was my escape was that we also lived on a creek. I got away often by following that creek from one end to the other. There is so much to be said for having had the opportunity to grow up in a place where I could get away to a place like that. Definitely more healthy than what a lot of kids use as escapes!

Shelves! hehehe... I love shelves! Makes my pack-rat habits not look so bad. Terrible, I know, but I am bad about putting up shelves to hold things that others would have gotten rid of long ago! Fortunately, in the last 6 months I have finally gained some discipline and thrown away a few pickup loads of frap.

As far as the troop stuff goes, I will freepmail you my address if you want to contribute. Just know that anyone who PRAYS for our troops because they are fiscally challenged is just as important a part of our Hobbit Hole support. Ya know, for those of us here it's hard to "see" the truth in that but I have the firm word of my son-in-law that he believes the reason his platoon never sustained a casualty is because of our prayers. No small thing that! 2 tons of chips and salsa don't measure up to that! I personally know that you are a prayer warrior for our guys. I value those prayers much higher than all. Selfishly of course because my s-i-l is back home with my girls but I know every family member of every soldier will feel the same in the end when we meet Jesus and find out the truth of things!

[Alkhin]

I give you my admiration!! I am waiting on my sis-in-law to come down because she wants to write as well, and we hope to use each other as muses. She has a few ideas for some comedy books and I need someone who would be willing to be my sounding board while I try to talk myself out of some of the tangles I have created. You sound like you have the same problem i do with narrative and description : I hear the conversations a lot better than seeing the imagery I want the reader to see.

And I am largely kerflempt because it seems like no matter what I devise, someone says "oh yeah, that's in LOTR as well, isnt it?" ARGH!!

Anyway, I wish you good luck on your writing!

[Alkhin]

I personally know that you are a prayer warrior for our guys.

Its funny you should call me that! I guess its cause I am on the Freeper listing... :D but I once got into a Yahoo group that called themselves prayer warriors, and at the time I was not anywhere near to finding a church home or going deeper into a spiritual life. I was in something of a limbo...but I got into an argument with the leader of that group who insisted that I stay with them, despite the fact that I wanted to leave the group because some of the political sneers of the others were sticking in my craw, and I didnt see any reason to continue being there. It baffled me that she was so insistent.

Anyway, I will pray harder. I have become VERY lax. Just know that our priest is also very supportive of our troups and they are included in the dedications every Sunday.