The Magic of Gnomes

I have a Swedish friend who told me the story of a traveling gnome. A family thought their garden gnome was stolen, until he sent them postcards for the entire year of his travels around the world. After a year, he came back home safe and sound. Maybe this is the idea behind the gnome for travelocity.com (or is it orbitz?). Anyway, I thought was a funny story but I didn’t think much of it until I received my own gnome.

I never thought I would be the owner of a gnome. Maybe that is why I didn’t give that story much more thought. However, my brother bought me a Hawkeye gnome when we moved into our first house. He has been sitting happily next to our door since we moved. I was worried the Hawkeye tailgaters might want to take him on a trip across the world (or more likely, another part or rural Iowa) without leaving post cards, but luckily he has stayed close by. I think the tailgaters respect Iowa pride (even if they don’t respect lawn chairs—if you remember one was stolen on game day last year).

I originally thought the gnome story was a fable, not unlike the Easter Bunny. A traveling gnome. That sends postcards. But lately I am starting to wonder about the magical talents of the gnome. Mine has turned out to have a personality, and he is quite festive.

The first time it happened I noticed we came home to find him wearing a blue surgical cap, not unlike the one below. He must have known I was coming home from a long day in the OR and was sympathizing with me. I wish I could find the picture but we just wiped our hard drive. I guess you’ll have to imagine.

Since that time he periodically has other ways of showing me he’s got a mind of his own. For example, he must have been unhappy with my lack of fall decor because he reminded me to celebrate Thanksgiving with this pumpkin.

A few weeks later he signaled it was time to put up the tree when he started wearing this Christmas sweater (a mug cozy).

Every time I see his new trinkets it makes me laugh. I’m pretty sure he has an accomplice, although I have yet to figure out who. I have a few ideas. I’ll have to share those on another day. Until then, I’m excited to see what he comes up with in the future!