Stories shape worlds, worlds shape stories. And sometimes, a story about stories can change how we see both. On Fairy Stories (1947) The essay got a fresh face in 2008. A lecture becomes a touchstone, a scholarly reflection on imagination, myth, and meaning. On December 4, 1947, J. R. R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy Stories was published in EssaysContinueContinue reading “December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76”
Category Archives: Observances
Hello Winter, From a Longleaf Pine
I stand rooted in West Central Louisiana, a longleaf pine keeping quiet watch over the rhythm of the days. It is December first. The humans fuss over calendars, insisting winter has arrived. I shrug in silence. Frost may glint briefly across the yard. Ice settles now and then. Snow? Rare, fleeting, a story they tellContinueContinue reading “Hello Winter, From a Longleaf Pine”
In Memoriam: Edith Mary Tolkien (1889–1971)
On November 29, 1971, Edith Mary Tolkien slipped quietly from this world when she was eighty-two, leaving behind a life woven into the fabric of her family and the imagination of Middle-earth. To the world, she may have seemed the quiet wife of J.R.R. Tolkien, but her life was more complex than any simple label.ContinueContinue reading “In Memoriam: Edith Mary Tolkien (1889–1971)”
Quiet Thanks-Giving
Here’s a little story from a couple years ago to go with your morning coffee… “HAPPY THANKSGIVING!”It was after dinner, about nap-thirty if you get my drift, when Jubal Blue bellowed across the driveway like he meant to wake up the whole piney woods. I held up my hands, trying to settle him before heContinueContinue reading “Quiet Thanks-Giving”
Native American Heritage Month: Honoring Story and Strength
I glanced at the calendar and saw “Native American Heritage Month” sitting there like it always does in November. This time, instead of just scrolling past, I stopped and started digging. What I found turned a quiet square on the calendar into something alive: real people, deep roots, and stories of resilience that still echoContinueContinue reading “Native American Heritage Month: Honoring Story and Strength”
Veni, Vidi, Scripsi 