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All great tragedies (even inside stories which are heroic) live in the conflict between virtues or needs. Frodo wants to save the world and no longer wants his burden, but by the Gods does he also want that ring. The people would have done well to live under that growing oak, but they also needed to grow food for themselves. I want to live on a river more than I can describe, but my family decided to move to a place where there isn't a major river for three hundred miles. So... what to do?

Frodo almost failed, while the men and women in that story killed a wonder and yet lived. I chose to be in the same town as my parents, and it's been great. But I miss the river like an amputated limb.

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Yes, the real wonder isn't finding a place you want to live, it's in finding someone that is willing to live there with you. Where would a young person find an "old-timey" partner who is happy primarily taking care of multiple children, working in a garden, and making clothes? I myself find the suburbs, i.e. chopping down the "giant oak tree," to be that kind of compromise where you're not battling nature but it is accessible, have a lot of convenience, and can more easily build a life with someone who doesn't want to be too accustomed to manual labor (yet there is opportunity for homemade/workshop projects), or be too close to the cold and wet. However, if you don't want to chop down too many oak trees, living in the city saves the environment from sprawl, but it's no place for healthy independent children either. So the suburbs, that great American invention, works for most, doesn't it?

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Simon , have only discovered you in the last few days (5/21) and was delighted / surprised that you were in New Hampshire - after growing up NYC I moved to the coast of New Hampshire 35 years ago...more of a calling really than a choice...

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Hi Simon - did you write anything else about the meaning of the old oak tree tale?

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I did not. It is based on a tale from Medieval Japan.

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