Dear Diary,
I am less than a full day's travel away from Home, it scares me though. I have been away for so long I'm not sure I'm the same Hobbit that left the Shire.
I suppose it's what my Dad meant when he used to say "You can't pass the same water twice but you can't hold it when you have to go." In his crude way he was teaching me that we change as each day passes. Sometimes the change is deliberate, sometimes it is forced on us, the change is not always welcomed but nontheless inevitable. We can't go back no matter how much we long for it.
Tomorrow is a new day, and if I am a different Hobbit, then I'm sure it's a different Shire I return to.
The Dwarf caravan turns North in the morning heading towards the Blue Mountains. They have already given me enough food for two days, and helped me pack the bags ready to secure to Floppett at dawn.
I have brushed and groomed Floppett and Harmony until their coats shine.
I asked one of the Dwarves to trim my hair so it doesn't look so wild. They did a good job too, I look like me again. There is a lot more grey hair than there used to be. I look far older than my years. I am barely into my fourties. I have picked out a dress of Elven style and a hat with a feather. I shall put them on in the morning and my travelling robes over to keep it fresh.
The Brandywine Bridge, gateway to The Shire. I intend to ride across it with my head held high.
I might not have two brass pennies to rub together, but that doesn't mean I can't make an effort to look respectable for my return home.
I just thought, I don't know where I will stay. I can't stay at the farm, Trumble and his wife moved into the main building when I left. It was my suggestion. No use in the old place going empty. My Dad lives in the original farm burrow and that only has enough room for him.
Still, no use worrying and fretting about such things.
I must remember to visit the Great Smials and pay my respects to the Thain. He was kind enough to give me the stipend after all. Then I have to visit Songburrow Hall and inform Rowana of my return. I have a few items for the Mathom collection but not as many as I had hoped for.
Tomorrow is Friday, I wonder if folk still gather at The Green Dragon in Bywater? By my reckoning I should reach Bywater at about the right time. I'll just pop my head around the door and if there's noone there I'll just carry on my way to Tookborough and the Thain.
