Summer Tales....GNomeo, GNomeo Where For Art Thou?

This is Norman the Neighborhood Travelocity Gnome

He arrived to our address in the dead of night. How surprised we were to find him, at 5 am, on our doorstep looking longingly out across our street. It is not everyday that you find a Gnome on your doorstep. 

The most perplexing thing about Norman's arrival is that the night before I had been telling a girlfriend that I found gnomes (especially the garden variety) to be a little disturbing. My grandparents had garden gnomes in their garden and as a child I thought they were really looking at me with those beady little eyes. I had also (a week prior) watched the children's movie Gnomeo and Juilette with Su Yee, which confirmed my suspicions that they were indeed watching me. Add up all of my childhood fears, the movie, and the fact that I was superduper tired and you would understand why I greeted our guest by  slamming the front door, screaming "it's a GNOME, a GNOME" down the hallway waking up my poor husband to come and save me from this small intruder.  Further to this, we live beside a public walkway and have endured fartbombs in our mailbox, knockknock ginger, and other "practical jokes" for the last ten years. I have been left just slightly spooked by all the stuff that we put up with on a regular basis. The first thing I did was look for the hidden camera....there was none. 

Turns out that Norman is a true Travelocity Gnome. His travel goal written nicely on a laminated tag on his ankle. He was to travel down our block between houses 100 - 144; preferably changing locations under the cover of darkness. 

Norman and I had a heart to heart over coffee in the backyard so that I could face my fear head on. It was agreed that he would hang around for a little while and travel with our family this summer. Su Yee liked Norman right away calling him "Gnomeo" instead of Norman.

Norman went to the lake. 

He experienced the lake culture of sunny mornings and rainy afternoons and survived the hailstorm outside (just a few paint chips!). 

Every now and then Norman would join us for a movie. His favorite movie quickly became Gnomeo and Juilette for obvious reasons...

 ....she is such a beautiful Red!

His stay with our family was extended but hopefully we showed Norman some good western hospitality. He made new friends at our house who will certainly miss him.

Kiss, kiss, hug, hug...Goodbye!  

That night very late Norman left us for another adventure a few doorsteps away.
He will be dearly missed by all!