Not Exactly a Gnome...

Lady Findhorn's comment compels me to tell just a little story about this fellow...even though she has forgotten that he wasn't (and still isn't) a gnome, but a gnome substitute.

Ten years ago Lady Findhorn and His Lordship ventured across the pond for what turned out to be a fabulous vacation for all of us. The central character (aside from the substitute gnome) was most definitely our red Jeep Cherokee, in which we logged many miles driving together throughout the American Southwest, from Berkeley to the Grand Canyon to Santa Fe and back, with many great stops in between. Early in the journey, inspired by discussions of the movie Amalie, and perhaps by our dinnertime libations, we purchased this howling coyote at the Grand Canyon gift shop. If you've never been to the Southwest then you wouldn't be aware of the ubiquity of howling coyotes on everything from sacred Indian carvings to cocktail glasses.

We decided that we wouldn't take any pictures that didn't include him. It was great fun and he actually enhanced our picture taking imaginations as we staged our shots, not necessarily around him, but including him. (This was long before any of us had had heard of Blipfoto). He had a name which we've all forgotten, but he definitely enhanced our trip.

After we said our fond farewells to LF and HL and sent them back to Edinburgh, we couldn't quite figure out what to do with our howling friend, so he kicked around the house until one of our grandchildren became quite enamored of him and took him home for a few years. Like the real gnomes in our garden, the substitute gnome has a way of coming back to us, still howling at the sky.

A couple of years ago, a delightful Norwegian family rented the house across the street for a year. We helped them arrange a trip to the Southwest and gave them our howling coyote to take with them, so he was able to revisit several places he had been with us, and take on some adventures with this athletic young family that he never might have had with us had we all been 25 years younger! (slick rock cycling, zip lining, white water kayaking...) I believe HL did carry him to the Angels' Rest in Zion after the rest of us opted out of the steep exposed climb.

When I read Lady Findhorn's comment, yesterday, I realized that our howling friend is still overlooking our new premises from the top of the fridge. Having made the cut once more, and with such a great backstory, I decided he deserved one last picture.