Good Morning! 🌞

Today is Hobbit day! September 22nd is Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthday. Today is a great day to do some hobbit themed activity.

You could plop down and read some of the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. Maybe you want to watch one of the excellent movie adaptations. Or, if you like baking, try making some seed cake or seed muffins.

With that, I will leave you with this excellent scene from said birthday:

Culture

How Americans are Reinventing Retirement

A recent survey of 2,000 American retirees or those planning to retire before 2029 reveals that many are living lives their younger selves would envy. The concept of "retirement reinvention" is popular, with 60% of respondents either planning or already embracing a new, vibrant version of themselves. Over 25% believe their younger selves would "love" their current life.

Retirees are rediscovering old hobbies, learning new skills, and exploring activities like sports, writing, or learning a new language. Travel plays a significant role in this reinvention, with four in ten retirees taking or planning a "trip of a lifetime," and 59% intending to travel more in retirement than they did during their working years. Financial constraints during their careers, such as budget limit and lack of job flexibility , have motivated many to prioritize travel now, with half cutting back in other budget areas to fund these adventures.

The survey highlighted top retirement travel destinations, with 59% favoring U.S. locations, 31% choosing Europe, and some even eyeing Antarctica. Along with travel, 78% of retirees are considering starting a side gig for extra income and to keep boredom at bay. Socially, 15% are seeking love in retirement, while 16% are planning solo adventures.

Connor Smith, a vice president at IHG Hotels & Resorts, notes that retirement is becoming a time for adventure, reinvention, and living life to the fullest, countering the fear of boredom that often accompanies the transition.

Culture

Choctaw Nation Unveils Sculpture for the Irish

In Oklahoma's Choctaw Nation, a powerful new sculpture, “Eternal Heart,” has been unveiled to celebrate a remarkable bond that has endured for over 170 years. The sculpture, a heart intertwined with a Celtic trinity, symbolizes the enduring friendship between the Choctaw Nation and the Irish people.

The story begins in 1847, during Ireland’s devastating Great Famine. Despite having endured their own hardships, including the forced relocation from their ancestral lands, the Choctaw people raised $170 (equivalent to about $5,000 today) to help those suffering in Ireland. Their selfless donation was sent to Midleton, County Cork, a gesture of compassion across oceans and cultural divides.

Nine years ago, a silver monument in Cork was dedicated to commemorate the Choctaws' generosity, with tribal leaders invited to attend. Choctaw Chief Gary Batton reflected on this unique connection, noting, “The bond between our nations has strengthened over the years,”

This bond was rekindled in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the Navajo and Hopi nations faced severe struggles, the Irish people responded by raising $2.7 million through GoFundMe, with many contributors leaving heartfelt messages of gratitude, remembering the Choctaws' generosity.

One remarkable aspect of this story is that the recipients of the Choctaw donation in 19th-century Ireland were unaware of its source until many years after the famine had ended. To their amazement, the aid came not from their fellow Catholics or countrymen but from the Native American Choctaw Nation—people they knew only from colonial writings and popularized depictions.

In 1995, Irish President Mary Robinson visited the Choctaw Nation to express formal thanks and was even made an honorary Choctaw chief. This visit marked a renewed commitment to this friendship, one that is now immortalized in the “Eternal Heart” sculpture. As sculptor Samuel Stitt said, “The Choctaw culture of giving and caring for others is passed down to each generation. The ‘Eternal Heart’ is an artistic interpretation of how the Irish people and Choctaw Nation will forever be connected by that human characteristic of compassion—one people for another.”

Culture

You Have Never Seen Characters Like This Before

Both the Lord of the Rings books and their movie adaptations are undoubtedly cultural events of enormous proportions. The effect has spawned countless pieces of art, literature, and cultural references that still capture people today.

With that, I would like to share two things today. The first is a video of an artist drawing some of the characters you know and love… but based only on the books. I find this type of art to be very fun because while the movies did a fantastic job bringing the world of Tolkien to life, some of the descriptions in the books could look very different depending on how you interpret it.

The second story is about Katherine, who built her very own hobbit home in Dordogne, France that she now lives in.

Katherine’s hobbit-inspired home, emerged from the remnants of an old stone wall, once hidden beneath overgrowth in a French forest. The house, adorned with an Art Nouveau theme, features Celtic beasts etched onto the cob walls, while a living earthen roof and a large green front door complete the enchanting look.

The story of this “Shire home” began in 2014 when the couple purchased a few acres in the Dordogne region. Scattered with old, walled ruins from when the land served as a vineyard before World War II, they began clearing away debris and overgrowth in 2016. By 2017 and 2018, they completed two small outbuildings. Inspired by their progress, Katherine decided, "That is where I will live," and thus began the construction of their hobbit home.

The couple intentionally built the house without heavy machinery. They created a living, reciprocal roof in 2017 and 2018, designed to avoid the need for a central beam, too heavy to install by hand. The roof was made with a waterproof membrane and straw insulation, then covered with topsoil planted with sun-loving vegetation, blending the structure into its woodland setting.

In 2019, they sculpted the cob walls—a mixture of clay, sand, and straw—on a stone foundation, making the structure resemble a piece of art. Wooden planks sourced from a sawmill became ceilings, shelves, and window frames, while the plastering and flooring, completed in 2020, made the home livable.

In 2021 and 2022, they added a shaded porch with sculpted tree pillars, finishing the exterior. Inside the cozy, 13-by-13-foot home is a kitchen, a work table in a bay window, and a sleeping loft accessible by ladder. The décor, a blend of vintage and handmade pieces, complements the natural setting, evoking “the imaginary landscape of the Shire.”

Despite its fairytale aesthetic, the home is practical too. Cob walls provide excellent sound insulation and keep the house cool during hot summers, while minimal heating is needed in the winter. It’s here, in the whimsical surroundings of this hobbit home, that Katherine creates her artwork, a craft she has pursued full-time since 2008.

Katherine’s unique home leaves a lasting impression on guests, many of whom are captivated by its fairytale charm. Some, she notes, can hardly believe it’s real.

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