Hobbits

I did not discover the work of J.R.R. Tolkien until I was out of college.  Crying my way through my first year of teaching in a small town in northern Pennsylvania, I do believe that hobbits, elves, dwarves, and wizards kept me sane during that long winter.  It was easy enough to breeze through The Hobbit, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy was an exercise in focus and the willing suspension of disbelief.  I cannot think about that difficult year (which included my father's untimely death) without remembering the solace I took in vicariously living in Middle-earth.

And I carried the love with me after I left that job.  I acquired two Irish Setters and named them Brandybuck and Strider.  I collected the Brothers Hildebrandt calendars of all things Hobbit.  I cheered when Led Zeppelin sang songs (Ramble On, Misty Mountain Hop) with Hobbit references.  I indulged in a world of fantasy that even took me beyond Tolkien into a love of unicorns and crystals and all kinds of things New Age.  Having encountered adulthood during the Vietnam Conflict, I was not the only one my age trying to exist in a world of fantasy as opposed to the reality from which we were still trying to recover.

A year ago yesterday, my kids and I began a road trip down the east coast of Australia.  We traveled from Yungaburra in the rainforests of Queensland down to Sydney in time for New Year's Eve.  It was in Sydney that we saw the newly released The Desolation of Smaug at an IMAX theater.  In 3D.  Yes, it was very, very cool.

Midnight last night marked the release of the last of The Hobbit films.  The Battle of the Five Armies will end the cinematic journey of Bilbo and his cohorts.  No, I didn't line up at a nearby theater to catch the midnight showing, but I will definitely try to catch the film at some point this week.  Maybe even in 3D.  A review I read likened it to playing video games, something I am not familiar with, but I think I owe it to my younger hobbit-loving self to see this thing through.

Last year, my wandering daughter Jenna spent some time in New Zealand.  She got to visit the Hobbiton set where the movies were filmed.  One look at this picture and you will see why I am in love again with hobbits.