homes for gnomes

My dad believes in UFO's, Bigfoot, ghosts, and forest gnomes. Resultantly, I do too. You see, the world is an even more wondrous, mysterious, sparkling place when bits and pieces of Tolkien weave through the usual.

When my brother and I were small, weekends found our family cross country skiing, rafting, or hiking as the weather allowed. Okay, and garage sale going. Back then, I found this much less luxurious and civilized than the weekends my friends spent at outlet malls and coastal resorts and watching professional sports from sectional sofas. They'd come to school Mondays with whole new wardrobes, souvenirs from the hotel gift shop, stories about the game! I'd have a couple of mosquito bites. (Poor, poor me.)

Now? Oh, well, of course now I find those family weekend memories among the richest banked in my heart. We laughed so hard, so often on those trips! And, we still do when tales are retold.

The adventues never stopped, really. Especially when hiking. When we'd rest and snack near vistas and waterfalls, my little brother and I would set out to decorate what my dad taught us were Gnome Homes. To anyone walking by we appeared to be playing in the dirt. (Poor, poor kids!) But, a trained eye - specifically, one trained by our dad- would see deluxe accommodations in knot holes and root knobs.

We'd make doors from madrone bark, whittle fence posts from twigs, stack rocks to be cobbled streets, arrange wildflowers to fend shui up the place- all the while imagining how pleased the gnome families would be when they returned home from a long day gnoming in the forest. A veritable Publisher's Clearing House kind of event! (Lucky, lucky gnomes!)

Those fortunate diminuitive folk are exactly who came to mind today when I glimpsed this turkey tail fungus on a tree outside our school. You see, through the lense of this myth-loving man's daughter, I recognized a city gnome's high-rise apartment with a view. Spectacular! So much curb appeal! Wonder what that set him back! (Lucky, lucky daughter!)