Pleasant places

[linaewen]

I'm going to change my default icon for awhile.  I'm not deleting Boromir thinking about those silver trumpets by any means, but I like the look of another icon I made that reminds me of quietness and rest, and I thought that would be helpful to look at during stressful times, what with moving coming on and all.  ;-)

So my default will go from this: 

To this: 

This new default icon is a picture that well illustrates the meaning of my chosen name, Linaewen.  When I braved the internet for the first time and found myself in need of a user name at the LOTR Fanclub, this name came to mind immediately -- I had always loved it as a name; it is so beautiful and peaceful sounding.  Here is some info about that name that shows a bit why it recalls peace and quiet to me:

• From the Encyclopedia of Arda:  Linaewen -- The lake of birds  In the eastern lowlands of the country of Nevrast, a vast marshland of reeds and pools had grown. In the midst of these Marshes of Nevrast, the waters came together into long, narrow lake, whose margins abounded with wading birds of every kind. It was from these birds that it took its name: Linaewen is Elvish for 'lake of birds'.
  

• From The Silmarillion: "[Nevrast... watered by the wet winds from the sea and sheltered from the cold north winds that blew over Hithlum. It was a hollow land, surrounded by mountains and great coast-cliffs higher than the plains behind, and no river flowed thence; and there was a great mere in the midst of Nevrast, with no certain shores, being encircled by wide marshes. Linaewen was the name of that mere, because of the multitude of birds that dwelt there, of such as love tall reeds and shallow pools."
  

• From Unfinished Tales:  "...Tuor tarried many days in Nevrast, and it seemed good to him, for that land, being fenced by mountains from the North and East and nigh to the sea, was milder and more kindly than the plains of Hithlum. He was long used to dwell alone as a hunter in the wild, and he found no lack of food; for spring was busy in Nevrast, and the air was filled with the noise of birds, both those that dwelt in multitudes upon the shores and those that teemed in the marshes of Linaewen in the midst of the hollow land; but in those days no voice of Elves or Men was heard in all the solitude.  To the borders of the great mere Tuor came, but its waters were beyond his reach, because of the wide mires and the path­less forests of reeds that lay all about ..."

I was thinking of such a place when I wrote this, from one of my long-ago written Boromir chapters -- As he skirted the edge of the fen, he could see on his right the now many-channeled river meandering its way through the long grass and sedges. The sound of birds and insects filled the air and swans could be seen at times out in the middle of the waterway. Boromir halted under a low-hanging willow tree and dismounted. Here the watercourse cut through the reeds and came close to a grassy bank that went down to the water's edge. This would be a pleasant place to camp for awhile...

So, I'm going to "camp in this pleasant place" for a bit, and by doing so, hopefully keep myself anchored in a secure and quiet place.

Psalm 16:5-7

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
       you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
       surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
       even at night my heart instructs me.