Agape4Gondor · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
Bless Sam!
Author's reply
Indeed--one who deserves all the blessing he can get!
Only a Second or Two by Larner
Reviews (280)
Kitty · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
*grin* Yes, that's our Sam, still doubting he's the right one to become Mayor! There had to be a reason why he was elected seven times, however, so the other Hobbits must have seen something in him he himself would not.
Author's reply
Yes, so it must have been! How we love our Sam.
Andrea · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
I mean, it’s not like I’m more’n a gardener, after all. Good old Samwise! He's much more than a gardener! But it was his modesty and his only wish for a garden to tend, that made him nearly immune against the lure of The Ring. I don't want to imagine what might have happened otherwise.
Author's reply
Oh, but you have the right of it, Andrea. His appreciation of his own limits helped to stretch them properly for the RIGHT kind of glory and leadership for him.
Kitty · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Bilbo's advice made me smile, particularly the first and last one. Indeed, what can be more important than handkerchiefs :) But there was a lot of truth in the other advices. Pearls of wisdom, really!
Author's reply
But of course handkerchiefs are VERY important! Ask the Hobbit who ran off so quickly he forgot to take one! And am so glad you feel the other advice is truth. Thanks so!
Andrea · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Let's see: the first words came from Bilbo and the second speaker was Frodo. I'm not so sure about the last one. My guess would be Merry or maybe Aragorn. And I found out already that I'm not alone with that guess. And never fall to believing, as I did, that you need to do it all yourself, or even that such a thing is possible. Has he finally realised that? I'm right glad he has. One burden less to carry. I can understand Frodo so well, because I tend to do that myself, to have full control, you know? But I found out long ago that it really is impossible!
Celeritas · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
Heh, famous last words, Sam...
Author's reply
Oh, yes! All too often the harbingers of a lot of hard work! But if anyone was up to it, it had to be Sam Gamgee, who undoubtedly at this point needed a good project.
Antane · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
Little does he know! :) Namarie, God bless, Antane
Author's reply
You're right--little does he know, but he WILL learn. Although Frodo did warn him he'd get to remain Mayor for as many terms as he wanted.
6336 · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
Oh, Sam! My dear, dear Sam! More please, Lynda
Author's reply
Yes, our dear, dear Sam! Frodo must be very pleased and full of anticipation! Heh!
Queen Galadriel · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Aww! Bilbo's made me laugh...just sooo characteristic! :D The other two are quite thought-provoking. Love this.
Author's reply
Yes, that's our Bilbo. And am so glad you found the others though-provoking! Thanks so, my Lady!
Queen Galadriel · 20 March 2009 · Chapter 20: Don't Know as I'm Ready for This
*chuckles* Bless his heart! I know how he feels, though, poor Hobbit; I was recently made president of a newly formed career club for the blind/visually impaired in my area, and it's largely my job and that of my fellow officers to actually get the thing off the ground and shuddering into some kind of action. It's been...interesting. Part of me is still going, "What? No!" ;) This is cute - just a gardener indeed!
Author's reply
But in the end who better than a garden, who has to learn patience with seeds, seasons, and weather? And if anyone can make a go of a career club, I am certain you can do so. How about responses to other colleges? Hope you are getting some acceptance letters! They'll do well to have you!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Bilbo's first set of advice was delightfully hobbitous. Frodo's was quite touching, and I liked to think that he had finally learned that third bit of advice for himself. I had Merry pegged for the third one (thinking that Aragorn's would have sounded a little more kingly) but also was wondering where Strider's drabble was! Then I saw sufficient authorial notes to realize that this was it!
Author's reply
I can just hear Bilbo reciting that proverb he himself authored to Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin at different times. So glad you feel it's proper to him as a Hobbit! I do hope that Frodo did come to appreciate that last bit of advice as it applied to himself, although I doubt it fully hit home until he'd been on Tol Eressea for some time. As for the last one--it could easily have been Merry; but where perhaps it's not particularly kingly, still I felt it well within the thought processes of Strider the Ranger! Thanks so!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 18: Waking on a Winter Morning
Heh heh heh... this one was peppered with future leaders, wasn't it? Nice little bait & switch you made!
Author's reply
Well, can't have too many such in on a plot like this one! Heh!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 17: Fighting Stereotypes
I think I liked the last one best; Frodo taking Boromir of Gondor on was a priceless mental image! Granted, the hobbits he's traveling with are anything but ordinary, but those ideas he had formed of them (largely based on size, I imagine) were dead wrong!
Author's reply
I suspect both size and apparent lack of gravity would at times interfere with remembering not to underestimate these four. And, of course, the Ring might well have been working on him to lead him to bait Frodo more than was wise. Such dissension would probably be welcomed by the thing.
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 16: Never Say Never
Yup, life is if anything uncertain--something which I imagine the high-spirited Tooks don't quite like learning!
Author's reply
Accepting we are not in control of our own destinies is not really something we want to believe, particularly when we are young. It's a lesson we all learn, all too often somewhat painfully.
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 15: The Question
Ah, the pivotal moment. Saruman's reasoning is all too understandable, but he's left his original mission far behind. What is prudent is not always what is right.
Author's reply
You have nailed it so succinctly! Indeed! Thanks!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 14: The Promise for Next Year
Spring is quite lovely (especially to the farmer) in that it offers so many opportunities: not enough time has gone by to set everything in stone. I hope that year was a good harvest!
Author's reply
I grew up in the country, and watched fields and gardens bloom at neighbor's homes while we saw our chickens and ducklings hatch and our puppies grow to little fluffballs and eventually leggy little dogs.... Yes, a time to imagine what the harvests will bring! And I, too, hope that it was a good harvest! Thanks so!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 13: What He Cannot Say
Ack! Can I get in the line for Frodo-hugs and offering of tea and biscuits? Considering the circumstances, this was a perfectly natural superstition for Frodo to develop. At least we know (or trust) that he gets to see Sam again.
Author's reply
Oh, yes, so many want to reassure Frodo Baggins. And I can appreciate the growth of such a superstition as well. And I DO believe he'll see Sam again in this life, and the others soon enough beyond the Bounds of Arda! Yes, I'll join you in that hug!
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 12: Preservation
This reminds me of a discussion I once had about the glimpses we get of the post-Scouring Shire, and particularly the imagery of plum stones piled up like skulls! It gave off the impression of a Shire that was not quite as innocent as it had been.
Author's reply
Yes, that image is a marvelous one, allowing us to see ties to an almost savage racial memory! No, no longer quite innocent. But hopefully it's at least wiser, wisdom being the gift that ought to be received when innocence is lost. Author Reply: Yes, that image is a marvelous one, allowing us to see ties to an almost savage racial memory! No, no longer quite innocent. But hopefully it's at least wiser, wisdom being the gift that ought to be received when innocence is lost.
Celeritas · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 11: Miscalculation
Heh heh heh... No, I can't imagine Lord Elrond particularly appreciated Merry and Pippin's rather simple (and at his expense) sense of humor...
Author's reply
...Much less the ashes and smoke scattered all over the Hall of Fire! Heh! Glad this one gave so many such a heartening laugh!
Antane · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
I love Bilbo's pearls! And Frodo's is very good also and I love the wisdom contained in the third also. Indeed words to live by. Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Yes, each of them has a fair amount of wisdom as well as Bilbo's practical advice. Thank you so, Antane.
6336 · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Words to live by! More please, Lynda
Author's reply
Thank you so, Lynda--and the next one is up now!
Cairistiona · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
"Second, never confuse fearlessness with courage--too often not being afraid is really a sign of rank stupidity and an appalling lack of imagination. Real courage is doing what needs to be done in spite of your fear." Brilliant!
Author's reply
Thank you! It's not the fear you feel but what you accomplish in spite of the fear that proves your courage in the end!
shirebound · 19 March 2009 · Chapter 19: Thoughts to Live By
Those are pearls indeed. :)
Author's reply
Am so glad you agree, Shirebound! Heh! Thanks so.
Andrea · 18 March 2009 · Chapter 18: Waking on a Winter Morning
LOL!!! That was unexpected, but nevertheless really funny. And it was Frodo who started that "tradition", so he should have no reason to complain.
Author's reply
Indeed, Andrea! He deserves to get some of his own back! Heh!
Antane · 18 March 2009 · Chapter 18: Waking on a Winter Morning
Love it!! And that Sam would do it too! :) And you just know that Aragorn knows what is going to happen. Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I imagine Aragorn coming in during the evening after the first snowfall when Frodo's closeted with Bilbo or gone to bed early, and Sam, Merry, and Pippin developing their own little conspiracy with Strider. Heh! Glad it gave you a giggle.