A Pending Disappearance.

Readers of long standing should remember the venerable Lady B of the Shire – she about whom much was written, around whom several minor fantasias were constructed, and to whom and for whom a number of ditties were crafted. There was a time when she was the star witness of my life among the Hobbits. I remember saying once, and I meant it, that she was the only person within a 25 mile radius who I really wanted to talk to. It's still mostly true.

Today she told me she’s leaving, taking herself and the little princess to another Hobbit hole a few miles distant. ‘We have to move on,’ she said. Indeed.

I can’t in all truth say that I’ll miss her because I see her so rarely these days, although HT54 is likely to get fewer, if any, mentions on the blog. Nevertheless, Mill Lane is about to be demoted to the ranks of ordinariness, and the mere knowledge of her absence will remain a slightly sad issue for a while.

I wrote recently that I seem to be saying ‘and now it’s gone’ a lot lately. Well, there you are.