Abby Epplett, Historian

I first introduced Gandalf during my overview of wizards and balrogs , noting that he was an archetypal wise old man similar to Odin, Merlin, and Prospero. He also appeared as Olórin while discussing Lady Nienna , his mentor who was “acquainted with grief” and taught him “pity and patience”. While Gandalf was not born as a baby, since he did not have a biological mother, he did describe his early years in Valinor as his “youth”. He shared a commonality with Tolkien and many other characters in the legendarium: he was a foster child. This experience affected him throughout his lives. In this essay, I will explore how his experience as a foster child with a grieving surrogate mother may have related to his homelessness, apparent nicotine use disorder, and internalized need to always be good.

On Thursday, April 23 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., I watched the sixth and final webinar in the 2026 season of Parked at Home , this time visiting Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park . Ranger Mark Mello began the talk by comparing Blackstone Valley to Shenandoah Valley and showing beautiful photographs of both parks. According to Ranger Mark, the two spots “began on a similar track: European colonization, early forms of industry”. Both areas have mills, but while the Blackstone River Valley in the North became more industrial, the Shenandoah in the south became remained agrarian. In 1793, Old Slater Mill opened in Pawtucket, RI as “a symbol of this industrial society”, while Isaac Bowman built his mill complex on Cedar Creek in Shenandoah. The Bowman family later built Belle Grove Plantation, a symbol of “agrarian Southern society”. The American Civil War during the mid-19 th century further divided these regions.

On the same day I visited Peak House Heritage Center and Medfield State Hospital National Historic Site , I took several walks in the area, including Shattuck Reservation & Noon Hill managed by the Trustees of Reservations, Medfield Rail Trail, and Kingsbury Pond Grist Mill. The colorful fall leaves made the woods even prettier than usual.

The One Ring was famously engraved with the final line of its dark theme song, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them”. In this essay, I am exploring motifs and myths surrounding goldsmiths, the history of goldsmithery in the Real World, how to make gold things, and attempting to answer a physics question concerning the One Ring.

On Wednesday, April 16 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., I watched another installment to the “Parked at Home” webinar series, this time featuring Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeastern Iowa. The program was hosted by Ranger Allison Horrocks, with Ranger Susan Snow joining live from the monument itself, which Ranger Allison jokingly described as “only about an 18-hour car ride” from the Blackstone River Valley . Spanning roughly 2,500 acres in the Upper Mississippi River Valley , the park preserves more than 200 earthen mounds set within a landscape shaped by water, time, and human memory. In contrast to the 46-mile Blackstone River, the Mississippi River stretches over 2,300 miles, producing rich soil that has long supported agriculture. As author Robert Macfarlane observed, “No landscape speaks with a single tongue”, a fitting lens for understanding the area.

On the same day I visited Peak House Heritage Center , I went down the road to Medfield State Hospital National Historic Site . Established in 1892 as Medfield Insane Asylum, the Queen Anne-style red brick buildings stand at the top of hill near a large field. A family event was going on during my visit, but few people were walking among the shuttered buildings. The grounds have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994 .

In October 2025, I went to a special event at Peak House Heritage Center in Medfield, MA. Striking for its early colonial architecture and location on Main Street, Peak House has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975 . Despite being a small property (the parking lot only fits five cars), the combination of a well-trained volunteer group, updated signage, and an easy to navigate website make this destination well worth the trip. This is an ideal house for families on their first historic house tour.

This nine-minute instrumental uses musical themes found throughout the work, some of which have already appeared in previous pieces. I will review past themes, explain the history and inspiration behind new or updated themes, connect the technique appearing in the composition to the emotions I intended to convey, and provide careful analysis to the structure of the piece. If you find this essay too technical and would rather simply listen to the music, feel free to jump to the bottom of the page where I have embedded the sheet music video.

Thursday, April 9, was the fourth installment of the 2026 season of Parked at Home hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . Park Ranger Allison Horrocks presented from Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, and was joined by Amanda Hatch of the Frances Perkins Center , the official philanthropic partner of the brand new Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine.

My last stop was Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens owned by the Trustees of Reservations , which I had last visited for Winterlights in 2024 . I have already shared details about the property and the family who lived there, but I was able to take a more extensive tour of the house and see the gardens during this second visit.