Something about gnomes makes me smile–and a tiny bit creeped out. I like the concept of those mischievous little buggers. The Travelocity commercials crack me up, but my love for them goes back well before that funny gnome hit the big time.
Having never really thought about gnomes much other than laughing at how cute they are–or dastardly–I spent a few minutes online trying to figure out what the deal is with these tiny guys. I was short on time, so I couldn’t delve into the subject too deeply, but this is more about the cute factor than the history that can be traced back centuries, anyways. It is believed the original gnome was a humanoid spirit that dwells underground and can easily move through solid earth. Their image has changed over time and now is sometimes viewed as the fat cousin of fairies, elves, goblins, and various tiny mythical creatures.
Most of the modern gnomes that I’m familiar with are the garden variety gnomes found with tiny lanterns, shovels, rakes, and wheelbarrows. They tend to gardens when no one is watching and bring a sense of happiness when seeing their rosy cheeks. Modern gnomes sometimes resemble Snow White’s dwarves. As much as I like them, I only have a few. I received a couple as a gift a few years ago and placed them outside of the doghouse of our Corgi that passed away several months ago. Those are the only gnomes that make me sad to see because I remember seeing her looking up at me between the two gnomes with a look that said she wanted to get up, but was too happy or lazy to move. She had the sweetest eyes and I miss her so very much.
There is a movie, Amélie, whose title character has a father that obsesses over his garden gnome. It is worth a watch if you’ve never seen it–at least I liked it. Long story short, she performs a good deed and then decides to devote her free time to helping others. Her father always wanted to travel, but always found excuses to stay home. She decides to push him to travel by stealing his gnome and giving it to a friend that is a flight attendant to take pictures with it at foreign destinations. Amélie anonymously sends her father the pictures of the gnome seeing the world.
Before anyone thinks that I am a gnome freak, I only have a few here and there in my yard. I use restraint and prefer to smile when I see them tending to the yards of others.
xoxo,
BelowSeaLevel
P.S. To follow my tweets, click here. I am excited to be recapping the new season of The Real Housewives of New York City at TVGasm.com , in addition to recapping Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding.
BSL, sounds like you’ve had a very tough year in many aspects. So sorry to hear about your beloved four footed family member passing. I lost one of my kitties 15 months ago and I still cry over him. He is buried in one of our gardens and I some how feel he is watching over the flowers, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Thank you, CJ, for being a sweetheart to me. I’m sorry to hear about your kitty. I do cry often thinking about her, just as I’m sure you do when you just want to reach over and pet them. I know exactly how you feel, and I am sorry to know you’re feeling that sense of loss, too.
My dog is buried in a lovely cool spot under an oak tree that she would have loved. She passed away a couple of days before my accident, so both are kind of linked together. I love the imagery of your kitty enjoying the beauty of the garden. It shows how much you love him.
I hope you know how much I appreciate your kindness and encouragement. We don’t need many people, just a couple good people like you, so I feel blessed. Thank you, too, for your positive comments for my other writing. I appreciate it more than you can possibly imagine. I feel the same way about you, too! xoxo!
BSL, hope you are okay down there. Saw Mobile and parts of Gulf got a lot of rain. It seems either feast or famine when it comes to weather. We need rain, but not 15 plus inches. Hope all is well by you. Muah.
Hi there! We have been getting steady rain with frequent heavy rains. Our pumps are keeping the streets clear so far. I’ll be sending up some prayers for the other areas that are getting deluged and more flooding. You are correct about more steady rain keeping the grass growing, but this sort of heavy rain for days doesn’t do much other than flooding the street. hahaha! Stay cool and comfortable but keep active and limbered up during these summer months! I do hope all is well with you and yours, too! Muah back at ya! xoxo!
Hi BSL! How are you sweet lady? I read your blog and my heart goes out to you with your dog the Corgi, I am so sorry for your loss. just know that evey time you look out, she is there in spirit…
Are you enjoying the bbq-grill? I sure hope that you are lol. As they say in Irish, May God be with you in everyway and always. Take good care of you and your family.
Deb
xooxo
Hi DebWeb! I’m okay, how are you doing, sweetie? Thank you for the condolences. All of us know what it feels like. It takes so much longer than we ever expected and those really special friends, we never stop missing. I appreciate your kind words, as always.
I hope you and your family are doing well! How’s everything going? I’ve been having some things going on that have kept me and will keep me offline more than normal, but I’ll be checking in. Sending you some warm wishes for a great start of summer! xoxo!
Loved this post, BSL! I’m sorry about your little dog. I remember you mentioning him with regards to parading (the animals in the quarter are the best!). I know you miss him, and hope that you can feel his loving continued presence in your life with more joy rather than sadness soon. I think of pets as family, too. This may sound mean, but I have more loyalty to my pets (two rescue dogs of dubious extraction) than I do to some of my relatives. If my relatives came to visit and woke me up throughout the night by shouting, chewing up my lower kitchen cabinets (my front door frame, the corner of the carpets in my room, the newspaper, etc..) and then proceeded to crap strategically on my carpet, I would ask them to leave at once… my dogs, not so much. Thank God for Miracle Spray…
Love ya, BSL! Sorry I missed you last week in N.O.! XO, N.
Thank you so very much. It made my accident so much worse when it happened a couple of days after she passed away. The EMTs were incredibly kind about it and told the ER people to be extra nice to me and sat by my side whispering to me to be okay, that he’s still with me, while I got set up to go under anesthesia. During some of our worst times, we can also find some of the truest compassion.
I am laughing because I feel the same way and never thought about what I would do if a human did the things that my pets have done. I love it! Thank you for the laugh this weekend! I had no idea you were here last weekend! It poured, but I hope you got to enjoy some of what is good here, and if you gained 10 pounds, then you did it right! Thank you for coming to visit and support NOLA! xoxo!