Photo Story Friday: Beginning

"Goldberry, the River Daughter"

1976 Tolkien Calender by the brothers Hildebrandt

"Tom and Goldberry set the table; and the hobbits sat half in wonder and half in laughter; so fair was the grace of Goldberry and so merry and odd the caperings of Tom. Yet in some fashion they seemed to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other, in and out of the room, and round about the table"

"The Fellowship of the Ring" p 149

I chose Goldberry for my icon because of her role in the story, the mother and nurturer of the forest.  That's my role in life, only instead of the forest I nurture little ones.My hubby reminds me somewhat of Tom Bombadil.  He never takes things too seriously, or gets upset very often.  He is also very devoted to and takes good care of our family.  Together we seem to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other.

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I am new to blogging, but I love journaling and scrapbooking.

This is just another face of that art form with the potential of being able to share it with more than your intimate circle of family and friends. That makes it a bit overwhelming if I stop to think about it.
My kids introduced me to the world of blogging in May. I have been slow to plunge in. I spent a number of months leaving my tracks all over cyberspace as I crawled, and explored, and saw what "blogging" involved. I entered the large domain through a site by the name of C-Jane. I was amazed at how many people posted on her blog. I found myself clicking on profiles to see where these people hailed from. Some of their profiles were intriguing so I found myself clicking to view their blogs. I was amazed at the beauty of the prose I discovered. I have wandered and read and read and wandered. After clicking on a site-meter I noticed I spent almost a half hour on one blog as I read her wonderful stories.

I love to read and have a passion for words. I've had no formal training in writing; I only have the love of words to guide my writing. This is my first attempt to share my words with a larger audience. I hope the experiment goes well. Yes this blog is an experiment--no long term commitment here just yet. I stumbled across a blog called Them's my sentiments authored by Mary G and was delighted by her writing. She is my inspiration to begin.

So I will begin. My love for the written word began when I was a small child listening to the sounds of nursery rhymes fall from my mother’s lips. I had a capacity for memorization even at the young age of three and would in turn recite the rhymes back to my mother. I love the sound of words cascading from my mouth, charming those who listen to them.

I continued reading during early childhood. My grandmother gave me two large books that contained fairy tales and fables. They were my first wanderings through the land of make believe. I also remember reading the books of Beatrix Potter. I loved their robin egg blue covers and the fact that they were so small they could fit in my hands. The paintings were as endearing as the stories.

Pre-teen years were spent having adventures with the likes of the Bobbsy Twins, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I also went through a horse phase and read many books such as Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead etc. (I lived on a farm and loved riding horses).

My first adventure into the world of adult books came when I was 11. I read "The Hobbit". I was totally captivated and found myself in love with the world of JRR Tolkien. Two years later I read "The Lord of the Rings". For me these books marked a graduation to a more grown-up world of reading.

Since then I have devoured countless stories. I noticed the Library Thing on Mary G’s sidebar. I have been enjoying myself immensely as I search my memory in an attempt to remember the books I have read and catalog them into "my library".

And so my experiment begins. I hope to find others with my love for words, I hope to stumble across many pages where words and pictures take root in my heart and fill my soul.

Roads Go Ever, Ever On

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea:
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever 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 weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar,
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

"The Hobbit"

I feel like Bilbo, It's a dangerous thing stepping out one's door onto the road. You never know where it will take you!

I hope you'll enjoy wandering on the road with me as I discover the world of blogging.

Monday Meme's: Monday Missions, Monday Movies
Tuesday Teasers: Tuesday Teasers, Book Reviews
Wednesday Wanderings: Photo Meme's (Wordless Wednesday, Sepia Scenes, Window Views, Midweek Blues, Quotography)
Thursday's Titles: Group Book Reads and occasionally Thesaurus Thursday.
Photo's on Friday: Photo Story Friday, Foto Friday, First of the Month, LEM Photo Challenge

Sundries on Saturday: Miscellaneous posts--Photo Hunt (2009), There and Back Again, a years pictorial journey (2010-Project 365), Summer Stock, Friday Night Sew-in.
Sunday Scriptures: "It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit."
— J.R.R. Tolkien


Words of Note

The prime motive [for writing the books] was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them.


~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I love reading so I post reviews of books I've read on Tuesday's and Thursday's, please stop by from time to time to see what stories have amused me, delighted me and at times excited me or deeply moved me.

Welcome to my road




Here is a review I read on "Library Thing" about "The Hobbit" that I just loved:

Tolkien, father of fantasy, philogolist, friend and colleague of C.S. Lewis, Pipe-smoker, wizard, genius! The prelude to LOTR, now 71 years since having been first published, has not aged a day. The novel is so finely fashioned, I feel I could open it and smell bacon, eggs, butter, toast, tea, mead, earthen Hobbit hole, and fine tobacco. The generations of the 60s and 70s found Tolkien to be so intriguing because industrial America was ready for escape. Escape to where? Tolkien claimed that his work was not fiction, but fact. He drew from his vast knowledge of ancient Norse mythologies, and most notably the story of Beowulf. It is this mystic glimpse into the magical past that draws us hither into worlds long lost. Here my precious, pack a bowl from the tobacco jar, blow some smoke-rings, and come to learn of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain and his immense horde of treasure, not to mention the War of Five Armies.