auntiemeesh (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
auntiemeesh) wrote2011-01-23 12:07 pm
auntiemeesh) wrote2011-01-23 12:07 pm
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Today is off to a much better start than yesterday. It's not even noon yet and I've:
*washed a sink full of dishes,
*vacuumed the living room and bedroom,
*scooped all the litter boxes,
*got the laundry half done,
*and changed a light bulb for the landlady. This involved climbing to the top step of a fairly tall ladder and then clinging to the new gas piping (in the basement) in order to reach the insanely high up light fixture. I'm really glad the landlady didn't try this on her own!
Now, on to a question for you hobbit-minded folks out there.
Being a bit bored recently, I picked up The Hobbit for a re-read, as I sometimes do when there isn't anything else to capture my ever-fleeting attention. This time, something struck me that I never thought about before, and I wonder if any of you have ever noticed the same thing. To quote a bit:
The assumption I've always had is that at this time in the Shire's history, big people rarely, if ever, come very far into the Shire. It's established (in the bit of the quote that I left out for brevity's sake) that Gandalf hasn't been around since the Old Took died, many years previously, and based on his lack of desire for adventure, it seems likely that Bilbo has never been outside of the Shire. And yet, he seems very unsurprised or taken aback by someone as tall as Gandalf showing up (without knowing who he is, at this point). So, is my assumption that big people don't often come to the Shire wrong? Would it seem perfectly normal, to Bilbo, to have some big fellow just come wandering up his path? Or is it just that Bilbo is such a polite and accommodating hobbit that he doesn't react with much surprise to an unusual guest? Except that he does act surprised when the dwarves show up the next day.
Anyway, that's just something that piqued my curiosity. Any thoughts?
*washed a sink full of dishes,
*vacuumed the living room and bedroom,
*scooped all the litter boxes,
*got the laundry half done,
*and changed a light bulb for the landlady. This involved climbing to the top step of a fairly tall ladder and then clinging to the new gas piping (in the basement) in order to reach the insanely high up light fixture. I'm really glad the landlady didn't try this on her own!
Now, on to a question for you hobbit-minded folks out there.
Being a bit bored recently, I picked up The Hobbit for a re-read, as I sometimes do when there isn't anything else to capture my ever-fleeting attention. This time, something struck me that I never thought about before, and I wonder if any of you have ever noticed the same thing. To quote a bit:
...Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed)--Gandalf came by. Gandalf! ...All that the unsuspecting Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which a white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots.
"Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. If you have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine. There's no hurry, we have all the day before us!" Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door, crossed his legs, and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that sailed up into the air without breaking and floated away over The Hill.
The assumption I've always had is that at this time in the Shire's history, big people rarely, if ever, come very far into the Shire. It's established (in the bit of the quote that I left out for brevity's sake) that Gandalf hasn't been around since the Old Took died, many years previously, and based on his lack of desire for adventure, it seems likely that Bilbo has never been outside of the Shire. And yet, he seems very unsurprised or taken aback by someone as tall as Gandalf showing up (without knowing who he is, at this point). So, is my assumption that big people don't often come to the Shire wrong? Would it seem perfectly normal, to Bilbo, to have some big fellow just come wandering up his path? Or is it just that Bilbo is such a polite and accommodating hobbit that he doesn't react with much surprise to an unusual guest? Except that he does act surprised when the dwarves show up the next day.
Anyway, that's just something that piqued my curiosity. Any thoughts?