This just in from Saara of Finland...
- The gnome twins moved to our place at Christmas time many years ago. At first it seemed as though they were normal Christmas elves, but something about their behavior made me suspicious. The twins were very sleepy and shy. Only at the fireplace would they show some kind of interest in being social. It must have been the heat of the fire. So I decided not to be too demanding and I let them live in peace. They seemed satisfied but eventually disappeared for the rest of that winter. I thought perhaps they were hybernating after arranging Christmas with Santa Claus.
Little did I know.
When the first signs of spring became apparent the gnome twins suddenly appeared from their hiding place and stayed by the window looking at the garden where snow was just about to disappear for good. I started my spring gardening and clean-up of the backyard. I felt their eyes on my back all the time. It was a little bit annoying so I decided to take the twins out with me too. Despite the frozen ground it took only a blink of an eye and they were gone. I saw red flashes under the leaves and their running around made a funny sound. They seemed happy. It was then when I realised that my elves are actually garden gnomes. They seemed to love my garden.
Now, after many years together I have noticed that my gnomes share a lot of ideas with me. They like "slow gardening" and wild environment. That´s why I do not cut the lawn too often. The longer the grass the happier the twins seem to be. Now they are hibernating somewhere under the snow, or - as I told Karen before - they might have moved to Southern Europe for winter. But I´m sure that they will come back really soon when it´s time to start enjoying the springtime again.
Who knows if my twin gnomes are related to Roamy. They seem to have the same mischievous streak! Roamy is welcome to meet his cousins in Helsinki, Finland any time.
P.S. - Garden gnome is "puutarhatonttu" in Finnish.
Some Finland Facts:
-Finland is the fifth largest country in Europe.
-68% of the country is covered by forest.
-Helsinki is the capital, with a population of 539,000 but with the little cities around it, it’s around 900,000.
-Other big cities include Tampere and Turku.
-The language of the elves in the famous movie based on a book, Lord Of The Rings, is based on Finnish.
-Finland is a bilingual country, the two official languages are Swedish and Finnish.
-The UN voted Finland as the second most stable country in the world.
Saara, can I come with him??... that is... if I can find him! - Karen
