I see Middle-earth

[Formendacil]

Well, I would say that I have beheld the Misty Mountain (ie. the Canadian Rockies) from my front yard. I know what the wide flatlands of Rohan look like (the natural flat grasslands of the prairie). I have beheld the mostly barren, but with scattered trees and shrubs and hills, and altogether unpopulated Eriador (Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, where the prairie and forest meet in a rather bumpy terrain). I feel like I have walked in the Woody End (anywhere up in the Parkland band of forest. Elk Island Nat. Park springs to mind). I have walked in the pine-forest of Dorthonion, tracking the footsteps of Barahir and his men (lodgepole pine forest, either in Cypress Hills or Waterton Nat. Park). I have gone down the River Running in a canoe (Red Deer River).

Yes, I have seen Middle-earth.

[alatar]

Thanks for the replies.

Around here we have these huge sycamore trees that I picture as examples of the 'Party Tree' - especially when they stand along. However, the areas around the same do not lend themselves feelings of the Shire.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Well, I would say that I have beheld the Misty Mountain (ie. the Canadian Rockies) from my front yard. I know what the wide flatlands of Rohan look like (the natural flat grasslands of the prairie). I have beheld the mostly barren, but with scattered trees and shrubs and hills, and altogether unpopulated Eriador (Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, where the prairie and forest meet in a rather bumpy terrain). I feel like I have walked in the Woody End (anywhere up in the Parkland band of forest. Elk Island Nat. Park springs to mind). I have walked in the pine-forest of Dorthonion, tracking the footsteps of Barahir and his men (lodgepole pine forest, either in Cypress Hills or Waterton Nat. Park). I have gone down the River Running in a canoe (Red Deer River).

Yes, I have seen Middle-earth.

Interesting how often Alberta, Canada seems connoted with Rohan! I can't say that when I have seen these places, I believe I see Middle-earth, but rather when I read about Rohan, I think of the foothills, where mountain and grassland come together. Places like Nordig and Rocky Mountain House, or even farther south, like Frank, near Crowsnest Pass.

I have, one dank, grey November day, looked out upon a beech tree, its orange leaves dead but drooping on its limbs, and its white bark shimmering, and seen Lothlorien, a land of memory and commemoration like a moment out of time.

[Bêthberry]

Well, I wasn't atop a mountain, nor did I see a burning bush, although some of the euonymous shrubs here are a brilliant burst of screaming scarlet. I did however come face to face with Eru today.

An Emergency Rescue Unit (yes, it really is labled in large- lettered acronym, ERU) pulled around the corner without siren or lights flashing and raced into my lane. You cannot guess what imaginings I felt as I faced this music. Luckily I was able to stop in time and so the sight did not foretell my doom.

[Lalaith]

Some years ago I visited Romania and it struck me that the dictator Ceausescu had done his best to turn it into Mordor. Wherever there was a particularly beautiful valley or castle, he had stuck a hideous sprawling steel factory belching out filthy yellow smoke. I kept muttering Mordor, Mordor to myself, to the concern of my travelling companion who misheard me and thought I had turned homicidal...