Once a year, just after Christmas but before New Year’s, Annie’s eldest brother hosts an event where family gets together and we watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It starts early in the day and goes on for more than twelve hours, thanks to the extended editions.

There is a ton of food, just like most events with Annie’s family, and my favorite is the lembas bread, a take on the elven bread from the movie.

During the movie, everyone makes comments, and discusses both the finer points and those things that make them laugh. The movie is mostly just an excuse to be together and is a shared experience.

While the movies are good, I’m more sci-fi than fantasy and so I mostly attend for my wife, the food and company.

Thankfully, at least this year, we didn’t run the Hobbit trilogy before starting Lord of the Rings. I think that would make for far too long a day.