I'm glad I'm old.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Galadriel: (speaking partly in Elvish)

(I amar prestar aen.)

The world is changed.

(Han matho ne nen.)

I feel it in the water.

(Han mathon ned cae.)

I feel it in the earth.

(A han noston ned gwilith.)

I smell it in the air.

Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.

It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf-Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and the will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made. Deep in the land of Mordor, in the Fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged a master ring, and into this ring he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life.

One ring to rule them all.

One by one, the free lands of Middle-Earth fell to the power of the Ring, but there were some who resisted. A last alliance of men and elves marched against the armies of Mordor, and on the very slopes of Mount Doom, they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth. Victory was near, but the power of the ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword.

Sauron, enemy of the free peoples of Middle-Earth, was defeated. The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever, but the hearts of men are easily corrupted. And the ring of power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur, to his death.

And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared another bearer.

It came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. And there it consumed him. The ring gave to Gollum unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind, and in the gloom of Gollum's cave, it waited. Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, and the Ring of Power perceived its time had come. It abandoned Gollum, but then something happened that the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable: a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire.

For the time will soon come when hobbits will shape the fortunes of all.

[Susan]

?!?!?!?!?!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Analogy for today.

[Unbeliever]

I, also, am glad to be old. It means that maybe I'll be out of here before things get too awful bad.

[Mr.Obvious]

The year is 2072
Third year of the second water war.

Withered and gray, a shell of a man, somewhere in the nearly submerged alpes, Mr.Obvious has gathered the children from his tribe around the campfire. Their mutated faces look at him as he tells tales of the olden times, beyond their comprehension.

Better days. Filled with the legendary heroes such as, gawdzilla sama, unbeliever and aitm.
Tales of people shouting in the wind their prophecies of the dark days, only to be ignored by the willfull lemmings that drank the poison and poisened the world with their corpses. A band of people that could speak to one another from all across the world, without needing to raise their voices.

"And when did the darkness truly begin, old one?" One of the more daring children, asks. Her three eyes peering intently at the old geezer who, after a emotional bout, had tired himself out and was now staring dispassionatly into the flames.
"Was it when the brain metal spread its virus?" Another child falls in.
"Or when the giant mushrooms were activated across the world?" Yet another posits.
"Surely it was when the orange threat climbed the throne of the world?" A fourth, now emboldened by the others, reasons.

The skinny and dejected nigh-on corpse lifts his head. His look sour and defeated. "Nay, child." His raspy voice counters. "For to go back to the beginning, the true beginning of the darkness, I must speak to you not of the villains of musk or putin or trump..." He sighs. "Further back we must go still. For a tale of nigh-unspeakable unfairness. Of an unforgiveable evil enacted upon one more than a mere man. One better than any man. I must tell you the tale of harambe."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Que?

[Mr.Obvious]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harambe

It became a meme. Regarded as where our reality split off and the darkest timeline began

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I had an interview when it was time to be discharged from Balboa Naval Hospital, back in '73. The pshrink chatted with me for a good half hour, then he signed my paperwork and told me to go through the door on his right. They set me up with backpack, travel documents, etc., and cut me loose for thirty days convalescent leave prior to reporting to Sicily (NATO base).

I later found out that if he had directed me to the door on his left I would have been at the hospital MUCH longer.

[Susan]

Analogy for today.

Errr...okay.

But I think only the first five lines could be an "analogy for today". The rest only makes sense for people who have read and/or watched Lord of the Rings (otherwise, it sounds like utter gibberish). 😂

Fortunately, I count myself among them (I have been a Tolkien fan for 20 years now).....but many (even here) maybe do not.

😂😂😂😂😂

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I read the first two books of LOTR while waiting for my flight to S.E.A., c. 1970. At the airport I went for the third book at the bookstore/news stand and couldn't find it. I went up to counter and spoke with the longhair at the register.

"Hobbits!"

"Which one?"

"Return of the King!"

"Only copy here is the one I'm reading."

 I pulled it out of his hands and slapped a twenty on the counter and ran for my flight.

Regular re-reads since then.