Fink-Nottle's Delight

Fink-Nottle's Delight

So, today we sent down to the botanical gardens in Federal Way to see how the rhododendrons and bonsai were doing. When we'd been there last things were just beginning to bloom: now they're in full flourish. We especially wanted to see how the frogs were doing. Last time we'd been told by a knowledgeable fellow visitor that soon the scummy  little pond wd be populated with tadpoles and then little frogs.

 

It turns out the delay worked in our faor, and we got to see not frogs but six salamanders --specifically North West Salamanders. I've only seem salamanders in the wild a few times (most notably at Camp DeSoto), so this was a real treat. It looked like a wet lizard.

 

 

Walking a little further we saw a pair of butterflies --tiger swallowtails I think; my favorites-- in a patch of sunlight: whether courting or quarrelling I cd not tell. I held out a hand in hopes one might land on it, but they declined.

 

And if these were not enough, not long after our path was crossed by a snake making a purposeful withdrawal from our presence.

 

All in all, a pleasant outing.

 

--John R

--current reading: ISLANDIDA by Austen Tappan Wright (1942)

--current viewing: The Murderbot Series (on Apple tv) 

Tolkien and Wartime Oxford

So, here's a brief allusion to Tolkien's work creating and administrating the syllabus for the accelerated cadet's course at Oxford during WW II:

"One of the most eye-catching initiatives was the course in English literature designed by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: this was the first external examination authorised by the University of Oxford."*

*The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading by Andrew Pettegree (2023)

endnote: Bruce R. Johnson, 'The efforts of C. S. Lewis to aid British prisoners of War during World War II', C. S. Lewis Journal. 12 (2018), pp. 41-76.

[endnote: Pettegree page 444]

I found this of interest because it co-credits Lewis, whom Tolkien outranked professionally. I'll have to hunt down Johnson's article.

--John R.

--current (re)reading:: the Murderbot series by Martha Wells