Inkling Explorations: The Wind in the Willows

 

The topic for this month is: 
A picnic scene in literature or film

 

I've chosen to highlight a scene from an animated version of The Wind in the Willows.  (My siblings and I grew up on this movie--watched it all the time at our grandparents' house--and so it has a lot of fond memories attached to it. Watching it again recently, I noticed how very unique and whimsical the animation is. It really is quite something.  I wish I had more pictures to share with you but, unfortunately, there are very few to be found.)  Anyway, moving on...

The Scene

Ratty and Mole take a short row down the river, ending up at a sequestered spot alongside the riverbank where they proceed to enjoy a picnic lunch together.  It's a perfect place for a picnic--so quiet and peaceful; with dragon flies humming near the water's edge; the warm spring air rustling in the long green grasses; and the sparkling river rippling on past.  (I should like to have a picnic there myself, I think.)  The two friends laze about in calm tranquility, doing full justice to their meal while chatting about this and that, and greeting some of Ratty's old friends who happen to pass by.

 

[This picture is not quite accurate, I'm sorry to say, as Badger did not stay to join Ratty and Mole for lunch. He came by at one point, but was, I believe, more annoyed than anything to find that someone else had discovered his picnic spot--and so left them again directly.]

When they've eaten all they care to, and their friends have gone on their merry (or not so merry) way, Ratty and Mole get back into their boat and set out for home.  A perfect end to a perfect day.  -Ahem-  That is, it would have been a perfect end if Moley hadn't taken it into his head to want to row the boat himself...and then continued to insist upon doing so despite all of Ratty's firm refusals.  A struggle ensues for the oars and all of a sudden the boat flips over, spilling Ratty and Mole, the picnic basket, and all the delicious, leftover-food, over the side and into the water.  And a loan pie, with as yet only once piece missing from it, is seen to go spinning down, down, down to the bottom of the river.  (That's the point where my siblings and I groan in dismay, for we cannot abide to see good dessert wasted.  ;))

But fear not.  The day ends much better than one might, for the moment, have expected. For Moley, being indeed a very good hearted mole, is highly ashamed of his thoughtless behavior, and Ratty, so kind and thoughtful, is very forgiving of him.  And so the two of them finish out their day sitting in friendly companionship in front of Ratty's cozy, crackling fire.  (And now I think I want a home like Ratty's.  For coziness is the word for it, and coziness is what I particularly like in a home.)  

 

What say you, should you like to live by a river, do you think?

And aren't picnics the best when one's food is packed in a wicker basket, and laid out upon a checked blanket?  (I confess, I've never actually experienced such a picnic myself.  But it's always struck me as the proper way to do things.  Don't you agree?)

Check out Heidi's blog, Sharing the Journey for more posts on the subject of picnics.  :)

Inkling Explorations//Little Women

I'm coming in late for the August Inkling Explorations, but as Heidi gave us permission to do so, I am determined that I shall not react in my typical fashion and apologize for my tardiness.  No apologies this time folks.  I am NOT sorry.  ('Cause after all, why should I be?  There's no reason I should be sorry, is there?  Is there?  Well, if there is, then I suppose I could...)  (We'll, continue on while the over-thinking half of my brain tries to figure out whether I should be sorry or not. *wink*)

Anyhow, here's the link to Heidi's blog for more details on this monthly event!  Don't hesitate to join if you have a mind to.  (If I can be late, so can you!  Please.  Keep me company. :P)

The subject for this month is:  The description of a lady's dress in literature.

Right.

So I racked my brain for an extraordinarily long time trying to come up with an impressive and detailed description of a lady's dress, but sadly (which is just my luck) I couldn't think of one.   So finally I fell back on my old stand-by and chose a passage from Little Women.  It's actually describing two women's/girl's dresses, so I hope that's not bending the rules too far.  :P  And if it is, well...

I'll just give you my most charming grin in hopes that it will charm away all responsibility regarding this matter, and let me comfortably off the hook.

Now to get back to my story... (or, rather, Louisa May Alcott's story, but you know what I mean.)

*****

After various lesser mishaps, Meg was finished at last, and by the united exertions of the family Jo's hair was got up and her dress on.  They looked very well in their simple suits, -- Meg in silvery drab, with a blue velvet snood, lace frills, and the pearl pin; Jo in maroon, with a stiff, gentlemanly collar, and a white chrysanthemum or two for her only ornament.  Each put on one nice light glove, and carried one soiled one, and all pronounced the effect "quite easy and fine."  Meg's high-heeled slippers were very tight, and hurt her, though she would not own it, and Jo's nineteen hair-pins all seemed stuck  straight into her head, which was not exactly comfortable; but, dear me, let us be elegant or die!

Isn't Louisa May Alcott's writing splendid?

Assuming that you've read some of her books, which one would you consider your favorite?

Inkling Explorations//The Return of the King

The subject for this month's Inkling Explorations is: A scene with a traveler arriving home in book or film.

I've chosen the ending paragraphs of The Return of the King where Merry, Pippin, and Sam return home after saying good-bye to Frodo.  I know it's really short but well, short can be good sometimes, right?

Check out Heidi's blog for more posts!

*****

"At last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road.

    

At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on toe Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went.  But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more.  And he went on, and there was a yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected.  And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

    

He drew a deep breath.  'Well, I'm back,' he said."

 

~The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

 

 

Isn't that a beautiful piece of writing? 

 

*****

 

Have you read The Return of the King?

Which is your favorite book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? 

(If you have a favorite, that is.  Personally I'm horrible at picking favorites.)

Oh!  And isn't the ending just soooo sad?

(Why does Frodo have to leave? Why, oh why, oh why?  *sob*)



Inkling Explorations~Amy and Laurie

It's time for another Inkling Explorations Link-Up over at Heidi's blog, Sharing the Journey.  The subject for this month is Roses in book or film.  I've chosen a scene from Little Women. I really wanted to do something from a less well-known book, but I simply couldn't think of anything else, so this is what we've got.  :)

     Valrosa well deserved its name, for, in that climate of perpetual summer, roses blossomed everywhere.  They overhung the archway, thrust themselves between the bars of the great gate with a sweet welcome to passers-by, and lined the avenue, winding through lemon-trees and feathery palms up to the villa on the hill.  every shadowy nook, where seats invited one to stop and rest, was a mass of bloom; every cool grotto had its marble nymph smiling from a veil of flowers, and every fountain reflected crimson, white, or pale pink roses, leaning down to smile at their own beauty.  Roses covered the walls of the house, draped the cornices, climbed the pillars, and ran riot over the balustrade of the wide terrace, whence one looked down on the sunny Mediterranean, and the white-walled city on its shore.

     "This is a regular honeymoon Paradise, isn't it?  Did you ever see such roses?" asked Amy, pausing on the terrace to enjoy the view, and a luxurious whiff of perfume that came wandering by.

     "No, nor felt such thorns," returned Laurie, with his thumb in his mouth, after a vain attempt to capture a solitary scarlet flower that grew just beyond his reach.

 

     "Try lower down, and pick those that have no thorns," said Amy, gathering three of the tiny cream-colored ones that starred the wall behind her.  She put them in his button-hole, as a peace-offering, and he stood a minute looking down at them with a curious expression, for in the Italian part of his nature there was a touch of superstition, and he was just then in that state of half-sweet, half-bitter melancholy, when imaginative young men find significance in trifles, and food for romance everywhere.  He had thought of Jo in reaching after the thorny red rose, for vivid flowers became her, and she had often worn ones like that from the greenhouse at home.  The pale roses Amy gave him were the sort that the Italians lay in dead hands, never in bridal wreaths, and, for a moment, he wondered if the omen was for Jo or for himself; but the next instant his American common-sense got the better of sentimentality, and he laughed a heartier laugh than Amy had heard since he came.

     "It's good advice; you'd better take it and save your fingers," she said, thinking her speech amused him.

     "Thank you, I will," he answered in jest, and a few months later he did it in earnest.

[Have you ever noticed the two-fold meaning behind Amy's remark, "Try lower down, and pick those that have not thorns"?  She didn't mean anything other than what she said, of course, but the double meaning is clear nonetheless, "Try pursuing the younger sister, the sweeter one who isn't so prickly."  Haha.  I love the subtle reference to Jo being the rose with thorns, and Amy the one without.  It's just clever, don't you think?]
 

Inkling Explorations ~The Fisherman's Lady~

It's time for another Inkling Explorations Link-up over at Heidi's blog, Sharing the Journey.   The subject for this month is:  A description of a lady in literature. 

I've selected a portion from The Fisherman's Lady by George MacDonald.

The glow of a young summer morning pervaded earth and sky and sea, and swelled the heart of the youth as he stood in unconscious bewilderment before the self-possession of the girl.  She was younger than he and knew far less that was worth knowing.  Yet she had a world of advantage over him--not merely from the effect of her presence on one who had never seen anything so beautiful, but also from the readiness of surface thought and polish of her speech which gave her an assurance of superiority over the man she now favored with her passing conversation.  As to her personal appearance, the lad might well have taken her for twenty; for she looked more like a grown woman than he, strongly built and tall though he was, looked like a man.  She was rather tall, slender, finely formed, with small hands and feet.  Her hair was of a dark brown, her eyes of such a blue that no one could have suggested gray, and her complexion was fair--a little freckled which gave it the warmest tint it had.

Have you ever read any books by George MacDonald?

Inkling Explorations Link-Up~Miss Potter

Heidi hosts a monthly link-up over at her blog (see details here) and I thought it would be fun to participate.  The subject for this month is: A scene involving a letter, package, or post office in film.  

I've chosen to highlight the scene in Miss Potter where Beatrix, separated from her fiancé for the summer, is keeping in contact with him through letter writing. 

Her delight and enthusiasm over every letter received is adorable.  And it's so good to see the depth of their relationship, and how it was truly well-grounded and able to stand the test of a separation.  (Not that I actually doubted that!  Haha!)

I won't talk about the other scene in this movie involving a letter because...well, I'd like to end this post on a happy note. 

 

 

Thank you so much for the link-up, Heidi!  It was fun!