[pct-l] Tolkien and the PCT

[brick@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Brick Robbins)]

Though the Lord of the Rings is an epic about the battle between good and
evil, on another level it is the tale of a very long journey on foot. After
returning from my Summer on the PCT I re-read the Lord of the Rings and
appreciated it on a whole other level.

Here is another poem that could describe the thoughts of a very old former
thru-hiker.

==========

by J. R. R. Tolkien

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
--
Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com