Thank you very much! One does rather wonder how far away Frodo really was, all those years, after all. I really love your White Shadow, which so beautifully addresses that question, and am looking forward to re-reading it again.

That's something I've always pondered: whether the years seemed as long to Frodo as they must have for Sam, for time does not operate the same in immortal lands, one would think. Sixty years, can you imagine it? And all the longer for not even knowing if it might not be more. Someday soon, I might be brave enough to tackle the end of Shire Morns, which has been written in my head for a very long time. I'm not sure if I am quite that brave yet.

And I'm so glad you enjoyed the apple tree image - it always seemed to me that the transition from friends to lovers would have been a very slow and gradual one, very nearly inevitable. And it would have been these early innocent moments that set their eventual relationship in place.

Thank you for re-reading!