As they sang, the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.
The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien
Something about the arrival of fall weather—that crisp taste to the air, that rush of cool wind when I open the door, and the crunch of leaves beneath my feet—never fails to awaken my longing for adventure. I wish to take to the hills with nothing more than the pack on my back and a stout walking stick in my hand. To explore. To live. And to dream of great things beneath the stars.
He [Frodo] found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R Tolkien
The fall awakens my Tookish side.
And like Bilbo, and Frodo after him, I am suddenly ready to forsake the comfort of my home and seek adventure on the wide Road. The dangerous, glorious, enthralling expanse of the wide road. With the arrival of fall, I am ready to be swept off my feet, drawn into the wild, and left to wander.
Wanderlust, I think it is called.
He [Bilbo] used often to say that there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you won’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R Tolkien
The world we live in is such a busy one. We are constantly on the move. Constantly driven to keep up, to press ahead, to accomplish more. And when we are not working, there is the siren call of entertainment to lure us to our couches.
I am meant to be doing. Inaction does not sit well with my soul. But I think there is also a need for a time of rest. For peace and quiet. For stillness and calm. And there is a time when doing can just as well be served by hiking as crossing the next item off the to-do list.
Fall is coming.
Even now I feel that itch of restlessness stirring inside me as the leaves begin to change and fall to carpet the forest floor. And if I should suddenly disappear for a period of time, doubtless it is because the Road has lured me into its grasp and I do not know where I shall surface …
“Ye ready, lass?” Amos hefted the larger of the two packs and slung it over one shoulder. He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. “We’ve supplies aplenty, the wind at our backs, an’ the open road before our feet. What more could a man wish for?”
Orphan’s Song, Gillian Bronte Adams
Does the fall awaken your Tookish side? If you could go wandering, where would your feet take you? To the mountains? The forest? The wide open spaces? The shores of the sea?
I don’t think there’s one particular season that awakens my Tookish side. It’s stories and music that call it to wakefulness and make me wish to step out of my ordinary life and go Wander and Do Things, that make me wish for mountains and forests through which to travel. But, as my responsible Baggins side is rather stronger than the Tookish bit, I generally satisfy the urge by doing more writing or reading or such. :P
Yes, without a doubt, stories and music definitely posses the power to stir my heart to adventure. There are some days where I just can’t sit still. No matter how much the responsible Baggins side tries to reason with my irresponsible Tookish side. Those are the days where I hop in my truck or saddle my horse and just take off for an hour or so before the responsible side catches up and reminds me that there are things to do.
I get wanderlust so bad! I love hiking, especially in deep woods or in mountains.
Me too! Which reminds me … I haven’t been in a while. Suppose it’s about time I go again!
I feel the same way! Love this post and the awesome quotes. :) Fall is just so wonderful and adventurous feeling. ^_^
Fall breezes just seem to whisper adventure in your ear, don’t they?
“Inaction does not sit well with my soul.” What a beautiful sentence, and one that I can relate to all too well. I love travelling, exploring, and just plain doing. With the coming of fall, I’ve been longing to visit Williamsburg, where my family used to go for vacation every autumn. We’re finally going back this December, and I can’t wait! But, like you said, there is also a time for being, and I need that time perhaps more desperately than many people. Sometimes a simple walk in the woods can both quiet my insatiable wanderlust and provide much-needed rest for my soul.
Yes, Autumn definitely awakens my Tookish side, it would be so fun to go wandering off into the forest and see what adventure I could find :). If only a group of dwarves would appear at my door and ask me if I wanted to be a burglar :D.
I… love this!! This is also my senior year of high school– the last year of freedom! So I’m trying to milk it for as many adventures as possible.
Wanderlust… It’s a beautiful word. : )
Would you mind dreadfully if I stole the backpack picture to be the background picture on my computer? It calls to mind so many wonderful feelings.
Often, especially around this time of year, when the weather gets civil again, I see a picture of somewhere online and my productivity is gone. I keep a list of these places in a running email to myself titled “Go Here.” The latest is the tiny island of Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland. Sea wind? Check. Land of my forefathers? Yes. Ruins of a post-Roman monastery? Definitely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Michael
Yay someone who understands me! I feel more alive in the Fall. I feel like Summer is surviving the heat, but when the cold weather is beginning to set in and the world is starting it’s traditional transition to winter, I feel like I’ve woken up from a long sleep. I’d love to go traveling somewhere! I’m traveling to a fair two hours south of me in a few weeks for starters. ^ ^
storitorigrace.blogspot.com
I think for me it is Spring that fosters my Tookish side. There’s something about it – a new beginning, a season full of growing things and endless possibility. That, coupled with perfect 80 degree weather, (which all too soon disappears into the triple digits of summer in Texas), spurs me on to do more things, to finish school quickly, to go outside and let the Road sweep me off my feet.
Fall, though….it, too, has such a sense of adventure, with bracing air and falling leaves…(and snow on the mountains, somewhere cold enough).
But really, I think my Tookish side is always there, popping out whenever I long to see or hear or do something awesome.
Thank you for this post. It’s a breath of fresh (fall) air.