I forget now when we even started, but last evening the eldest gel and I finished off the last book of the Lord of the Rings. Frankly, I was somewhat surprised that she didn’t lose interest after the first chapter or two of The Fellowship, but once we got rolling it became pretty clear that she was determined to hear it all the way through.

The gel was quite stirred by the events in the Shire following the return of Frodo and his party. “Wow,” she said of the Battle of Bywater and Saruman’s murder at the door of Bag End, “I can’t wait to see how that looks in the movie.”

“Um, they aren’t actually in the movie, Sweetie.  All of that part got cut out.”

“What! Who was it who made the movies? Peter Jackson? Just who does he think he is!”

Ah, that’s my gel.