Masks - A Fashion Statement of Diversity

The new shoes work well. Of course, the swelling gets worse as the day goes on, but that's gravity affecting the foot, and not much can be done about forces of nature. It's been eight weeks now since I missed that bottom step and crunched my foot underneath me, between my body and a concrete floor. It was a stupid and unexpected thing to happen and I suspect I'll be feeling in on and off for months, if not years to come. Still, I'm almost recovered and very thankful - things could have been much worse.

Masks are as individual as the person wearing them. Although
some people use the disposable ones, most have their own cloth
ones now and those display personality. 

I saw an interview on TV yesterday with a restaurant owner whose four restaurants had reopened inside dining, tried it for a few days, and then closed the dining rooms once again. I found his comments interesting. Of course, everyone wore masks and practiced social distancing, but when customers were eating, the masks were set aside. The staff wore their masks, but became increasingly uncomfortable being around people without masks for extended periods of time. The owner decided to continue his take-out and curb side programs, and to halt the inside dining until infection rates had decreased even more, to protect his staff.

Masks can be plain or decorative or have a statement. What's
fun about them is that they are all different. So many are
hand-made or home-made, that individual tastes
are the only criteria. 

I can't fault him on this. We require masks at the shop, and we're all establishing collections of masks to choose from. I have a lot of disposable masks available for customers who aren't wearing one, so we're set. Would I feel comfortable with just my plexiglass screens between me and my customers? I'm not sure I would. I don't feel that we have a handle on this virus yet. Small places and rural places are almost disease-free, but urban places still have quite a long way to come.

Ian Holm was a Shakespearean actor, but the role that
pushed him into popular hearts was that of Bilbo in
The Lord of the Rings films. 

On a different note, we all said a collective "Farewell" to a beloved actor yesterday. Ian Holm, Bilbo in "Lord of the Rings" and old Bilbo in "The Hobbit", passed over the silver sea yesterday. He lived a good life, and a full one, and enriched our lives through his talent. I can't think of Bilbo without seeing his visage.

On that note, I'm out of here. It's Saturday, so I won't be back until Monday. Have an excellent weekend.

Happy Birthday to The Hobbit

On this day, in 1937, the world first read the words "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." From that small beginning, first scrawled on the back of a page used for a different purpose, came books that have been a part of my life and the lives of millions of others. And as we get closer to the release of the movie, more and more people will be introduced to the unique vision and storytelling abilities of JRR Tolkien.

This lovely watercolor cover of The Hobbit is by David T Wenzel

I fully admit that I am not that big a fan of The Hobbit. In all of Tolkien's books, it comes down the list for me. But my basic dislike comes from a multitude of angles and history and I will still enjoy watching the story unfold on the screen through the unique interpretation and vision of Peter Jackson. It may not be your vision, there may be casting decisions that you dislike or characterizations that you disagree with, but the rich, multi-level vision of Middle Earth that he is placing on the screen makes this small world live. Finally my inner vision of a world, one that I read and still read annually, has come to life in front of me and it's lush, and colorful, and populated with fantastic creatures and people with whom I would adore conversing for hours on end. There are buildings to explore and landscapes to roam and...basically...it is a beautiful view of the Middle Earth that I adore.

Martin Freeman will make a brilliant Bilbo. The more I see in the film trailers, 

the more I like his characterization.

So thank you, Peter Jackson, for loving the books of Tolkien as much as I have and having the ability, vision, and financial backing, to bring them to the screen so that all can share your vision. I may not agree with all of your choices, but the chance to once again immerse myself into this rich world gives me such joy that I forgive the mis-steps.

Radagast is played by Sylvester McCoy. I'm not fond of the hat, but I love the character. 

 Yeah - I'm a Radagast fangirl.

Tomorrow...autumn thoughts.