Our little Hobbit-Hole

"...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats - the hobbit was fond of visitors... No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the lefthand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows..." - p.1, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Hannah and I have been reading The Hobbit together this week, and we think we've come up with the perfect name for our new house. As some of you know already, our old house was called "Little Burma," and we felt our new home needed an endearing title as well, but agreed we needed to wait for inspiration to come. As we began our book with this description of Bilbo Baggins' home in the Hill, we couldn't believe how much it sounded like our house! Sadly, we do not have a round, green door with a brass knob in the middle, but we are hopeful that some clever friend might figure out how to make that happen. :) Otherwise, details are pretty well intact and describe our house on Columbia Ave.

We also felt a special connection with Bag-End because of Bilbo's love for serving tea and visiting with unexpected-but-nevertheless-welcome company. And while it was a peaceful and comfortable place, it was also where great adventures began on more than one occasion.

So we have christened our home, and will henceforth refer to it as "our little Hobbit-Hole," praying for its rooms to be filled with music and stories and beauty, its pantries to be filled with all that is needed for surprise tea parties, its furniture filled with comfort and rest, its pegs filled with lots of hoods, hats, and coats, and its atmosphere filled with anticipated adventures! And you - yes, you, passing traveller, adventure seeker, or local neighbor - you are invited anytime to join us in our little Hobbit-Hole.