Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door, crossed his legs, and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that sailed up into the air without breaking and floated away over The Hill.
"Very pretty!" said Gandalf. "But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."
“l should think so-in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures.
Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them," said our Mr. Baggins, and stuck one thumb behind his braces, and blew out another even bigger smoke-ring. Then he took out his morning letters, and began to read, pretending to take no more notice of the old man. He had decided that he was not quite his sort, and wanted him to go away. But the old man did not move. He stood leaning on his stick and gazing at the hobbit without saying anything, till Bilbo got quite uncomfortable and even a little cross. "Good morning!" he said at last.
"We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
Anne was curled up Turk-fashion [1]on the hearth rug, gazing into that joyous glow where the sunshine of a hundred summers was being distilled[2] from the maple cordwood. She had been reading, but her book had slipped to the floor, and now she was dreaming, with a smile on her parted lips. Glittering castles in Spain were shaping themselves out of the mists and rainbows of her lively fancy; adventures wonderful and enthralling were happening to her in cloud-land-adventures that always turned out triumphantly and never involved in her scrapes like those of actual life.
"Anne," said Marilla abruptly, "Miss Stacy was here this afternoon when you were out with Diana." Anne came back from her other world with a start and a sigh.
"Was she? Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't in. Why didn't you call me, Marilla? Diana and I were only over in the Haunted Wood. It's lovely in the woods now. All the little wood things-the ferns and the satin leaves and the crackerberries-have gone to sleep, just as if somebody had tucked them away until spring under a blanket of leaves."
[1] Turk-fashion – sitting cross legged.
[2] Distilled - purified
If you want rest and change, you can't beat a sea trip. I objected to the sea trip strongly. A sea trip does you good when you are going to have a couple of months of it, but, for a week, it is wicked. You start on Monday with the idea implanted in your bosom that you are going to enjoy yourself. You wave an airy adieu[1] to the boys on shore, light your biggest pipe, and swagger about the deck as if you were Captain Cook, Sir Francis Drake, and Christopher Columbus all rolled into one. On Tuesday, you wish you hadn't come. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, you wish you were dead. On Saturday, you are able to swallow a little beef tea, and to sit up on deck, and answer with a wan, sweet smile when kind-hearted people ask you how you feel now. On Sunday, you begin to walk about again, and take solid food. And on Monday morning, as, with your bag and umbrella in your hand, you stand by the gunwale, waiting to step ashore, you begin to thoroughly like it.
I remember my brother-in-law going for a short sea trip once, for the benefit of his health. "Sea-side!" said my brother-in-law, pressing the ticket affectionately into his hand; "why, you'll have enough to last you a lifetime; and as for exercise! Why, you'll get more exercise, sitting down on that ship, than you would turning somersaults on dry land."
[1] Adieu – French word for ‘goodbye’
It was a beautiful spring day in Australia, perfect for a stroll along the beach so I put my flipflops on and off I went with my boyfriend. Now anyone who's spent any time in Oz will know that the weather changes extremely quickly. Suddenly the wind picked up and started spraying sand in our eyes - not so relaxing. So, we decided to head for the forest instead. Working in an emergency department, I felt fairly sure it was too early to worry about snakes as we hadn't had any snake bites for several months. So, imagine my surprise to come face to face with an eastern brown snake whilst scrambling up a hill! I couldn't step back with my boyfriend standing right behind me. I knew the Brown snake was aggressive AND deadly and my flip flops certainly weren't going to protect me! We stared at each other for a moment and then he slowly slithered away. I was incredibly lucky that he seemed so sleepy - a few days later, when he'd woken up properly, it would likely be a different story! That week at work, the snake bites started coming in quick and fast. I certainly learnt my lesson! It was definitely one of my scariest travel experiences to date!