Hobbit-Sense at OneFreeGarden.com

Hello there!  I can hardly believe I’m typing this.  This blog is Phase One of getting my website up and running. I have grand plans, but as with all plans, it’s best to start, and I can’t think of a better way to start than a blog (if largely because I don’t have to figure out Dreamweaver to get it running – thank you, Wordpress!)

So, what is this blog going to be about?  Well, I should probably start out by saying I do not view this as a diary.  I don’t really thing writing the details of my life for all to see as a way to keep my personal life personal, and honestly, I don’t think most of you care.  And basically, I don’t care to share it.  Now, it may be that every now and then I do write about my life… but that is not the purpose of being here.

What is the purpose?  It’s easier to say what it’s inspired by, which is a quote from Lord of the Rings, Chapter 1: “The Tower of Cirith Ungol” of Book Six (in Return of the King), when Sam finds himself greatly dispairing at the possibility of journeying on without Frodo, carrying the Ring himself:

He felt that he had from now on only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, grnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-dur. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be.

In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.

So, this is my garden, and I the gardener. It is a small plot, and all that I need and I hope it may be all that I want. After the war, Sam went back to being a gardener, and replanted the Shire, and made green and growing things. I hope these posts may be little sparks of green in a barren land.  

This will likely involve faith (I’m Catholic, raised Latin Rite but really thinking of going Byzantine Rite (e.g. Ukrainian Catholic)), politics, common sense (or, hobbit sense), the arts (visual, performing), literature and language (I’m a grammar nerd), etc.  All views are welcome when presented civilly… and while an occasional swear wouldn’t bother me, I don’t want many (and not G-D or F).  In short, anything and everything is up for grabs, but civil discourse is a must. 

A preview of possible topics (i.e. ideas that have popped into my head):

• a weekly or biweekly Chesterton discussion
• a comparison of themes in The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (I am NOT foolish enough to compare the works themselves, but I think they are both Christian works and also have a lot of shared themes)
• writing in general
• just why the Russian absurdists are so freakin’ awesome
• why clericalism is off the menu at the closed cafeteria (or, let’s draw from all areas, neither ignoring nor reifying the past)
• why the past has a lot to offer
• the value of traditions
• war, peace, the culture of violence
• absolute truth and shifting cultural norms
• the spiritual desert
• tv shows (time-and-soul-sucking, or worthwhile)
• classic movies (most of my favorites predate me, and several predate my parents)
• why I’m NOT the center of the universe
• the great rhetoric of our age (would you believe it’s on primetime?)
• Seven Quick Takes  (this is a weekly multi-blog thing started by Jen F. at Conversion Diary, which is a GREAT site)
• anything else I happen to think of

Anyone else notice this turned into a list to help me remember?  Maybe I’ll write about memory sometime… and my lack of a good one!

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One note is that I do not want real names used here. I will call everyone by username and even those who know me personally, please refrain from my given name and even from other screennames you know me as… I guess I just want this to be somewhat set apart from things. Nicknames are great, however, so if you come up with something shorter for “the Rosy Gardener” (perhaps TRG or Rosy?) then that’s great. 

Fair day,

the Rosy Gardener