What do you "assign" to the Shire?

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by Farael

Ohh you should see my neighbourhood, Celuien.

We have the cross of Carlos and Carlotta (Just for those who don't see it, Carlos and Carlotta are pretty much the same name in Spanish but Carlos is for male and Carlota for female)

And then we have streets crossing with themselves, such as Buckle at Buckle, Carlotta at Carlotta...

That sounds...fantastic. I was always amused by the fact that one of my former neighbors had the same first and last name, and lived on a street that also had that name. So Buckle and Buckle or Carlotta and Carlotta are great!

To the Shire: all of the little things that bring a smile to your face.

[Lalwendë]

I assign to the Shire Magners cider. I don't drink but when I do have a pint I like a nice one. I've avoided cider like the plague for about ten years due to its evil hangover potential, but a nice pint of this stuff goes down a treat. Hobbits would love it.

I also assign the fact that the city centre was almost deserted yesterday, giving us the chance to actually walk around and enjoy the new galleries (but not the shops 'cause we don't have very many of those any more!) and squares they've built.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I assign official acceptance letters. When you've been waiting for weeks to hear about something so important to you that you intentionally avoided mentioning it except in important cases (like "So Mom and Dad, I've applied to this thing on the West Coast this summer... how opposed are you to me working my butt off, buying a plane ticket, and going?"), it's amazing to open your e-mail and spot the letter saying "See you this summer!"

I swear, that was worse than waiting for a college acceptance letter.

[Diamond18]

Not sure this quite belongs in the Shire as I do not know the Hobbits' feeling on rock concerts, but:

I assign the happy feeling one gets when one finds out one will be going to a concert one really wanted to go to, but which one thought one was going to miss. The period leading up to such a looked-forward-to event can be as much fun maybe even more than the thing itself. So, actually, I'm assigning "anticipation" to the Shire. That works.

[Formendacil]

Easter.

Or, more specifically, the Easter Triduum, from Holy Thursday's evening Mass through to Easter Sunday's Mass.

Mind you, I'm enough of a Church-geek, Liturgiophile, and Mass-aholic to begin with, but these are awesome services... especially with our choir. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil... ah, how I love thee- and the message thou preachest.

And the Litany of the Saints in particular. Eusebius, Chrysogonus, John Chyrsostom... Not only does it sound awesome, the names are often cool and hard-for-the-normal-man-to-pronounce.

And then there's all the out-of-town students back for the weekend, and the midnight coffee and bread after the Vigil, and, of course, the Easter Sunday dinner...

Yes, I love Easter.

Alleluia!!!

[Alcarillo]

Speaking of Easter, I assign solid chocolate rabbits to the Shire. Not those rabbits with the space of chocolate-smelling air inside them, but solid chocolate rabbits. Yum.

I also assign jelly beans to the Shire, and any other Easter candy.

[JennyHallu]

Having dinner turn out the way it is supposed to...all like Momma made it.

[Firefoot]

I whole-heartedly agree. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. Leaving the Tenebrae service on Good Friday, then waking up at 5:30 on Easter Sunday morning to go to the early sunrise service where it is still dark, then for the lights to be turned on with the opening chords of the instrumentalists - trumpets and bells and drums. Truly awesome.

A holiday not over-comercialized nor too busy nor filled with hordes of relatives I either do not know or do not like. Even with the chocolates (which I do like, admittedly) and the Easter bunnies, Easter by its very nature remains truer to the spirit of the holiday than Christmas. And there's not much anyone can do to secularize Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

And many Easter hymns are among my favorites.