I pulled out Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring (yet again), and I was struck by two passages from the first chapter, “A Long-Expected Party.” As the years pass, I don't rush through as quickly to get to the action.
“The fireworks were by Gandalf: they were not only brought by him, but designed and made by him…They were all superb. The art of Gandalf improved with age.” (I hope that, like Gandalf, my art--chopping vegetables? skipping rocks?-- will improve with age.)
“Many young hobbits were included, and present by parental permission; for hobbits were easy-going with their children in the matter of sitting up late, especially when there was a chance of getting them a free meal. Bringing up young hobbits took a lot of provender.”
A few months ago we started buying provender at a place that Mark Mikasa calls “Costco-land."
