The Hobbit Hole IV – The Road Goes Ever On…

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

The Road Goes Ever On…

• 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!)

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

[2Jedismom]

I dunno...all I know is supposedly Steve's grandma was born on the boat coming over from Sweden, after going home from England in disgrace. So he's pure Swede, except for that bit of Englishman...purportedly. After arriving in the States, his grandmother's mother married a Swede that advertised in the paper for a swedish bride. A decent man, apparently...by all accounts.

Steve's dad was pure Swede, except for somewhere or other a german got in the mix, because our last name is german.

Me? I'm a Heinz 57. But mom has us traced all the way back to the Revolution. We even had one guy that sided with the King...oops! Nobody named their kids after him, and he went back to England, only to return a while later.

My mom can tell you all about it.

[RosieCotton]

To the best of my knowledge, we have a small mystery in my geneology...my grandfather on my Dad's side (whose Mom was full Norwegian) never told him who his Dad was. I think she married someone after he was born, and all we know is that the missing dad was a sailor of some sort. I'd have to do some checking to be more sure of that story...but we've sometimes speculated as to the sailor's nationality.

I think it's probably less exciting than that...he was prolly just a Norwegian fisherman rather than some dashing young captain. ;)

[RosieCotton]

Good morning, trini! Hope you feel better soon!

[2Jedismom]

Did you see Martha Stewart Living this am? She had a lady on there making a spoon bread and I missed the recipe. Sounds like something that would be good for breakfast and easy for the boys to learn how to make...

[ksen]

Welcome to Chapter 2 of Book 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring.

A Tolkien Virgin: The Fellowship of the Ring - Book II - Chapter 2 -- The Journey Continues
November 17, 2000 – Friday

Chapter 2
The Council of Elrond

It seems that the purpose of this chapter was primarily to fill in the blanks. I appreciate learning everything else that was going on elsewhere, but the endless flashback sequences were harder to endure than if I'd read the same stories firsthand.

I suspected Saruman from the moment Gandalf mentioned him...maybe his name is too close to Sauron. But, way back when Gandalf revealed the nature of the ring to Frodo he said that his fears had been originally allayed by Saruman who assured them all that the One Ring was gone forever. From that moment I had a bad feeling about Saruman.

With the mention of Cirdan the Shipwright, I actually gasped and said, "Oh my gosh!!" He was one of my favorite characters from The Silmarillion on account of the fact that his origins are so mysterious. He's not mentioned among the first princes or kings of the First-born, but somehow he ends up the leader of a whole people. Now, I learn he has endured the ages (he is much much older than Elrond) and endured perilous adventures in "after days," as Tolkien would say, even to the point of taking a heroic part in overthrowing Sauron. That's very cool.

But now I feel echoes of The Silmarillion because there is never an end to the rise and fall and rise of Melkor's successor. No matter what happens, the personage of Evil, the Common Enemy, always reappears destroying the fruitfulness of the sacrifices and heroism of past individuals and groups.

I have a couple of favorite quotes from this chapter. The first is the "all that is gold does not glitter," passage that everyone loves. The second is, "...he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."

Finally, the hum and haw over what should be done with the ring seems rather pointless. The reader is fully expecting Frodo and his companions to take the Ring to the Cracks of Doom as was mentioned way back in Chapter 2 of Book I.

till next time, keep thinking

Mark-Edmond Howell
Kanazawa, Japan
far(out)

BTW, today I am officially the dad of a teenager *sigh*

[mstar]

Hullo Hobbits and all friends of Middle Earth!
We are home....got in late yesterday...woke up this am and was so worn out, I couldn't figure out why the alarm clock was carrying on so.
I couldn't find any breakfast or a clean towel and the garbage needs to go out. Then there is the mail, all stacked up over there, just waiting. Welcome home.
Alkhin, we are planning to meet with you on our way to Port Comfort...leaving either tonight or in the morning. I left a message on your cell. I will have a better idea on the time when Terry calls from the office.
Ms. Hair, Mr. Braggins made it back from the land of OZ, aka California, in fairly good condition, considering what he went through. He was kept secret and safe.
Have some funny stories when time allows. Need to find food and a clean towel.
Hope you all are well!

[ecurbh]

Good morning!!

James Taylor tickets: $70
Seattle Symphony tickets: $60
Airfare to Seattle: $250
One week with HairOfTheDog: Priceless!!

[trini]

Well thanks Rosie! It is more of a bother than a real sickness though. How is Operation Sell going? Are you going the e-bay route?

[trini]

Awwwww! Que lindo!

You know Hair, Ruthy is under the impression that while you and ecurbh are occupied, she can have Frodo all to herself! I didn't have the heart to discourage her this morning :-)

[Ramius]

You have freepmail...

[RosieCotton]

It looks like eBay will be the fastest way - and I need fast! I took it to the music shop this weekend and had them look it over to make sure its set up nicely and doesn't have any problems...also got a shipping box. Then yesterday I took pictures for the auction. I have to do some trimming and color correcting and figure out some text for the auction...hopefully will get that posted by tonight.

I'm still worried about the whole process...having to ship it and hope the person who gets it likes it and that it doesn't get damaged in transit. And there's always the chance that it won't sell at all! But as I said, I figure if this is meant to be, it will all go OK...

[Corin Stormhands]

BTW, today I am officially the dad of a teenager *sigh*

Oh boo hoo hoo.

Try being the parent of a teenager and a pre-schooler.

[Wneighbor]

Being told to knock of the research makes me wonder about the whole "story".

That ought to just motivate you to keep diggin' IMO!

[Wneighbor]

I'm not even hungry in the least. I shoulda known the allergies were getting worse. I only ate about half my dinner last night.

[mstar]

You have mail

[trini]

I figure if this is meant to be, it will all go OK...

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

[HairOfTheDog]

Priceless! Oh dear.... I may have got your expectations up a bit too high!

Good morning!!!

[SuziQ]

Should we send you a cake with a file baked in it?

What a cute cake!! I made one for SSQ's birthday this year that was supposed to resemble a microchip! Didn't look TOO much like one, but it was fun. He liked it, anyway!

[Wneighbor]

I think it's probably less exciting than that...he was prolly just a Norwegian fisherman rather than some dashing young captain.

I'm thinkin' that the little lady might not have referred to him as "just a Norwegian fisherman" she mighta seen a little more romance in him than that! Come on, use your imagination! I can see how that could be a little hot under the circumstances....

[Wneighbor]

Birthday today!?!

I like that. My grama would have been 86 today! I'm glad that someone is having a wonderful birthday celebration this day. In that light, can I add some very heartfelt and loving happy birthday wishes?