Queen of owls

Nemophilist (pronounced  ne-‘mo-fe-list) means someone with a love or fondness for forests, woods, or woodland scenery, or someone who often visits them - a ‘haunter’ of woods. The word derives from the Greek ‘nemos,’ grove, and ‘philos,’ affection. The use of the word appears to distinguish it from the more formal pursuit of ‘forestry’ or ‘botany’ - suggesting a more artistic appreciation of trees, or the simple delight provided by woodlands. The first known use was in 1838.

Source

I’m reading Return of the King, and have just reached the chapter called “The Tower of Cirith Ungol,” in which Sam makes to rescue his master.

Something notable about this is that Sam has put on the Ring not once, but twice so far - and both times, his experience has been markedly different than Frodo’s.

Firstly, his vision is impaired. Everything he sees is somewhat obscured by a dark fog. It’s unclear whether this is an effect of the Ring entering Mordor, or if that’s just what it does to him specifically; after all, the Ring acts differently for each Wearer.

It’s the second effect that’s really interesting. You see, for some reason, the Ring improves his hearing. In both instances, he can hear orc-chatter from afar, as well as tumbling rocks and the foaming of Shelob. But what’s really wild about this is that the same never happens to Frodo.

Because the Ring reflects the Will and Strengths of the User, I can only assume this means one thing.

but alas

The Buddhist Joenji temple has been distributing sunflowers and their seeds to be planted all over Fukushima  (after the nuclear disaster in 2011). Patches of sunflowers are now growing between buildings, in backyards, alongside the nuclear plant, and anywhere else they will possibly fit. At least 8 million sunflowers have been distributed. [x]