It's said that there are decades in which nothing happens, and then there are weeks in which decades happen. I think we're experiencing the latter, and I think we've been experiencing it for the entirety of the 2020s.
Like any good hobbit, I prefer peace and quiet and good tilled earth. I'm not interested in having adventures. The 2020s have been... unsettling for me.
For a few years now, I've been thinking about the events of the seventeenth century and about how the twenty-first might turn out to be similar to it when it's all said and done. History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes, and I think our time will rhyme with that of the 1600s. At some point, I'll write an essay laying all this out.
In the meantime, there's a lawn to be mowed, bushes and trees to be trimmed, and weeds to be pulled up. There are new furniture pieces to be constructed from raw wood. There are songs to be sung and played. When the world becomes too topsy-turvy for you to stomach, do as I do and build something, or manage some nature, or pick up an instrument. These things can heal the sickly soul.
