Now that I’m retired, summer reading has taken on a whole new meaning for me. For one thing, my summer is longer with much more time for sitting on the porch and reading. Yay! I don’t have to spend most of June finishing teaching units, grading papers, and writing report cards. I don’t have to take classes in July to update my teaching certificate. And I don’t have to spend days and weeks in August preparing my classroom and going to district teacher meetings. Although I miss my kiddos, I am happy now that I can just enjoy reading on my front porch! And doesn’t that sounds heavenly?!
So I decided to start my “Summer Reading” on June 1st this year with a re-read (this is the 6th time) of an absolute favorite of mine: The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
It was early in 1968, having just returned from a year abroad as an exchange student, when I read a reprint of an article by W.H. Auden from The New York Times. It was a review of a series of books by an English author, J.R.R. Tolkien. They sounded so good, I quickly went out and bought all 4 books: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Those delightful hours spent reading those books set the standard for my summer reading. Total immersion into a different world… Traveling there and back again without having to leave my comfortable summer reading spot… Complete enjoyment of beautiful writing and wonderful creativity… I would love to recapture some of those delightful reading moments from long ago!
So… I am reading and enjoying, once again, The Hobbit.
By some curious chance one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green…
Hobbit house at the Oregon Garden, Silverton, Oregon…
A Fondness For Reading 
Enjoy your reread of The Hobbit, Robin. How lovely that you now have the leisure to do so.
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Thanks, Cath. 🙂
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And people think teachers have all summer off!!
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Nan. Fooled them! And they also think that teachers get paid for those summer months! Not!
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Oh, how I look forward to having days filled with nothing but reading! What a treat!
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Z and I are in the middle of The Hobbit together right now (his first time, my something-or-other time!). I can’t wait for school to end so that we can spend more than 20 minutes a night together reading it. It will be perfect for those extended evenings!
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oh how I love porches!! And rereads! Enjoy your summer!
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Les, you will love the reading time of being #retiredpeople! It’s such a joy to have that freedom again. Is this what “second childhood” means? I know, that’s something ELSE! 🙂
Kristen, did you and Z finish The Hobbit? Did he enjoy it?
Thanks, Pat. I love our porch…and rereads…and summer! (Except not the really hot and humid days. Oh dear…I’m a Pacific Northwest weather wimp!)
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