Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Photo by Niki Flow.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."  J.R.R. Tolkien

=) SURPRISE! (=

Happy Saturday!  In case you are surprised to see a Gem today, please visit our new page ÉOWYN.  Every day for four weeks, from October 14 to November 10, we'll be creating new pages for the journey from Bag End to Rivendell made by Frodo and companions in J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.  For the first three of these weeks, this will coincide with a walking challenge, walking through Earth and tracking miles on Middle Earth, being hosted on Kindspring.org from October 14 to November 3.  All welcome.   This began in on under1000skies in September 2015 and was meant to be at least a yearly event but life got in the way as it does sometimes.  Once this current journey and all the milestones are finished, we'll do this at least once a year until all 18 walks through Middle Earth (17 official and one I'm winging completely) are finished.

UNDER1000SKIES ÉOWYN PROJECT

As always, we welcome your photos and art for the under1000skies and especially for the new Middle Earth pages.  If you look on the page ÉOWYN, it will list the walks and the miles for each as well as the link to the original site listing every milestone.  Some of these milestones will be very challenging to find or create illustrations for.  I plan to use some of my own Weathertop art in the days to come which were used for Bilbo's journey in 2018, but what I really love doing most is featuring others' photos and art.  So if you see something among those milestones you have created or wish to, and would like to contribute art or photos to be featured as illustrations for any of these milestones, please let me know.

PIXABAY ROCKS

I'm so especially grateful this year to Pixabay.com for the beautiful photos contributed by their volunteers. I'm really happy to say I am now one of those volunteers. One of my many photos was finally accepted!  They have very high standards, and it shows when you view their gallery. I was so thrilled by this.  I'll keep trying to get better.  If you want to see my one photo (of the sky -- did you guess?) =) here's the link to my page: Jazztizz - Pixabay

PICMONKEY ROCKS

I'm also very grateful to Picmonkey.com for their continuous help and support and the answering of my many questions.  They have epic customer support, and their template designs are beautiful and easy to use.

THE EOWNY CHALLENGE ROCKS

I'm also very grateful to the brilliant creators of the site The Eowyn Challenge and to Karen Fonstad, the beautiful genius who wrote The Atlas of Middle Earth on which the website is based.

THE MOST FAMOUSEST OF HOBBITS

So, the story continues. I hope you enjoy the daily Gems in the coming weeks. Most of the quotes are from Tolkien's beloved books.  If you're a fan of those stories, you may also enjoy my story which was (allegedly) written by one of the "most famousest" of hobbits:  The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, September 23-October 20th.  It is 28 days based on the Tolkien trilogy, the Atlas and the website as well as graphics I'm creating to illustrate each milestone.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY

I hope we have a beautiful weekend. Today is very special to me.  It was 20 years ago I met my penpal and fellow adventurer in Elanthia of many months face-to-face on a first date.  We've been together ever since.

Golden Doeskin Boots

 Sixteen years and three days,
She didn't hear a baby cry.
One score and four until
She saw a barefoot man walk by.
Golden doeskin boots in hand,
She smiled up at the giantman.
Her empath soul responded to
His gentleness, this cleric new.
Giantman and giant heart,
Boyish smile, a handsome face,
In his arms was sanctuary,
Precious shelter, his embrace.
Two souls met and saw in each
A kindred spirit within reach.
Two hearts, bruised and battered sore,
Found love again, forevermore.
The past is gone.
They have each other from now on.

From Elanthian Love Songs - A Bard's Tale by Sara Michele O'Sullivan (nka Niki Flow).



Painting in the background, "Real (detail)" by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Shadowscapes.com.  Sketch by me. Each poem in the ELS collection is illustrated by one of Stephanie's beautiful paintings. All (100 percent) of the sales from Elanthian Love Songs - A Bard's Tale go to the purchase of artist packs for under1000skies.org.  See our About Us page for more information.

Éowyn Day 6

♡.