Wednesday, August 23, 2006

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door...

~Painting by John Howe, a wonderful Tolkien illustrator~

Tomorrow I'm leaving my cozy hobbit hole to begin my second semester of school away from home.

What a little hobbit I feel in this big world! Good thing, too, because if I were an elf or wizard who saw shadows of the future and was responsable for deciding the fate of the world, I would hide in my closet and never come out, even for all the riches of Numenor or all the darkest chocolate.

I'm sad at leaving my family. I love these folks, and the house will be even emptier now that Jonny has just left for school also. Ah, I feel such a deserter! But my mom wants me to go, so I'll do the best I can. I only have three more semesters left. I plan to come back home after I finish, to write and learn and grow and serve, untill my knight shows up to carry me away to a little castle somwhere. Hm, I wonder who he will be? Before I go off rambling about my longings for marrage (which I shall assuradly discuss another time), I must say that, while I hate having to leave my dear family in this emptying house, I'm also excited about the new adventures before me. And I hope that, like Chesterton's character Smith in Manalive, by leaving I shall learn to treasure home anew in more ways than expected.

"I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again." ~Frodo Baggins~

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:00 PM

    I just came across something while doing research for my paper: Apparently, in Medieval art, "Crusaders were portrayed with their feet on a dog to show they followed the banner of the Lord as faithfully as a dog follows the footsteps of his master“ (Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols.
    While the crusades weren't all that glorious an achievment, I still like the idea of the faithful dog.

    Hobbitgirl, as you go out there, I hope you'll be able to "doggedly" follow your master in all you do, and that you may experience all the joy that comes with walking in his footsteps!

    Muglin
    Posted 8/25/2006 at 6:26 AM by Muglin

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  2. Anonymous5:47 AM

    Hey Hobbitgirl, it's me again. Is this Blog still in use? I'd love to read some more about what's happening with you!

    Cheerio
    Muglin

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thank you both for your encouragement. I shall see what can be done.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:00 PM

    ...the Crusades weren't all that glorious an achievement..?
    No mate. They just stopped Allah's boys gettin' further than southern Spain.

    ReplyDelete