Things I Meant to Tell You
This month in hobbit activities and praying the gay away
Hi everyone!
I got a hardcover set of Lord of the Rings for Christmas, and now the only thing rattling around in my brain is “I wonder what the hobbits are up to!” They’re doing better than all of us, I’m sure. Here’s this month in hobbit activities, praying the gay away, and other things I meant to tell you.
These descriptions of hobbits from the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring
“Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favorite haunt.”
“They do not hurry unnecessarily.”
“And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted.”
I realized that I haven’t been ice farming anymore! I live two blocks away from my office now, so I’ve been walking over to use the ice maker there… otherwise known as ice foraging.
Desperate to increase the amount of hobbit activities in my life this year… mailing stupid little items to my friends, delighting in parties, not knowing what time it is, agreeing to go to Mordor because I like hanging out with my buddy…
Sabbath and the Art of Rest - I’m especially interested in thinking about rest as something that is done in community, not in isolation
The books I gave five stars to last year, which feel like a genuine reflection of my reading palette
Allow me to intermit here. You may already know this about me, but I spent a lot of time growing up in summer camps. Church camps. Extremely conservative and evangelical camps where, just for example, campers were made to scream gender essentialist chants at the behest of staff who all signed papers in writing to affirm that being gay is a sin… anyway. I bring this up because I spent the last week of December at Camp Bratton Green, an Episcopalian camp in Canton, Mississippi. And, DAMN! There were they/them campers, queer staff, kids talking openly and with acceptance about their same-sex relationships. Did y’all know Episcopalians get down with queer people like that? I guess that’s kind of their whole thing. I had just never been surrounded by it. This place had a lot of the same songs, foods, and activities as my childhood camp, but the belief system behind it all was in a different dimension. Really cool to experience, even as but also especially as an adult.
I’ve actually linked this episode before, but I listened to it again this week. They talk a lot about the “unconditional” love of summer camps and homophobic church organizations
Watercoloring on the docks, feeling actual unconditional love at camp <3
A series of haikus I wrote with Forrest, Mathew, and a camper on a walk
Sun peaks through the trees
Melodies spill from the lake
Life grows everywhere
Ow! What did I kick?
Ants scatter without pattern
A bugs home destroyed
Two legged creatures
Stomping, demanding, taking
Even the sun hides
Watch out for the thorns
A not so colonized path
Nature fighting back
Related: A recently piqued interest in movies involving the destruction of New York City due to environmental crises. Do not ask me for recommendations because they’re all bad.
Happy new year! Talk to you soon 🙂↔️
Kendall
