Because I’m such a Lord of the Rings nerd, when my gardening friend mentioned he put together nine planters, I had to remind him that it is the number of the Nazgûl—the nine men who basically sold their souls to Big Baddy (Daddy?) Sauron for the whispered lies of power, which was, of course, a false promise.
My wise friend quickly replied, “But I have yet to succumb to Sauron,” after which I chimed in, “I’m ready!”
It’s funny, isn’t it? I had no second thoughts or qualms about surrendering to the dark Lord. Because even that is so much better than the ‘real’ one we deal with here on this part of the Actual-earth.
Don’t get me wrong, Sauron is evil. His goal was to ‘cover the lands in darkness.’
But he reminds me of the T. Rex from Jurassic Park. When the young girl calls the dinosaurs bad, Dr. Alan Grant reminds her that “They’re just animals. They do what they do.” That’s how I think of Sauron. His mind has been twisted from eons of evil; he didn’t start out that way. It doesn’t make it right, but, especially since he didn’t start out as a human being, he seems more removed from human emotions.
It’s like the man vs. the bear: I would rather be hurt by a bear doing what they do than by someone who knows better, has every privilege in the world to do the right thing, and chooses not to. Not because they ultimately want a twisted version of order, like the Great Eye, but because they enjoy being cruel.
So, there it is. Just thought I’d share that little nugget on my mind today. In case anyone still doesn’t understand the bear thing.
And another thing(s).
Oh, and this week I signed a contract to contribute to a 2028 book, and will soon be receiving another assignment, with a beloved publisher. I worked on journaling prompts for my app, proposed a traveling class idea to a program at The Loft Literary Center, and filed a Harassment Restraining Order against our unfortunate neighbor (which was approved very quickly. Now it just needs to be served in person.) It’s actually been pretty quiet on the western front—that’s the side of our house she’s on, at least she’s accommodating my attempt at cleverness—other than her threat that if we don’t cut down our evil offending tree in one week, she will. I’ve been doing all this while struggling with a nasty-ass spring cold.
When I relayed this to a friend on the phone, saying, “I guess that’s all my news this week…” she laughed out loud. Yeah, I guess it’s been kind of hectic. How have YOU been?
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