Last night, Sr. Gloria walked in with two sizable boxes for me. "Merry Christmas!" she said as she plopped them on the table in front of me. I had been expecting my GRE prep book from Amazon. The second box was a mystery, and became a rather unnerving one when I saw who it was from: my dear friend Erin, who has been known to do some crazy stuff.
I needn't have feared. Erin's care package set a new standard for caring-via-package, and for long-distance-best-friendship. The splendid young lady sent me two mix CDs, a finger puppet, a t-shirt from St. Louis, some divine soap from some contemplative nuns (get it?), a quasi-trashy magazine, her copy of her favorite book (on loan), a 101 Dalmatians magic towel, a letter that made me go all watery, and last but not least, this wee little garden gnome!
Upon removing him from his bubble wrap, I was quickly inspired to join in the venerable practice of "roaming gnomes", that is, carrying the dainty chap around with me and taking pictures of him. In my case, since Erin gave him to me, I think they will go to Erin. They will probably also go here, unless all this excitement tapers out into a "I almost did that once" story. Knowing me and my friends, that's unlikely.
Anyway, the diminutive dude requires an appellation of some sort. I can't think of a good one, so I open it up to you, dear readers. Things to keep in mind when christening my mythical friend:
- This is, in it's tiny every-day way, a Catholic blog. Additionally, I bear an abiding fondness for all things Catholic. A name hearkening to some aspect or person of the church would be delightful. A saint, perhaps, or a Biblical personality.
- I like smart things, too (probably why I like Catholic things ;-) ). "Bob" simply will not do. Be clever!
- He IS, after all, a gnome. Make it gnomish, whatever gnomish turns out to be.
Leave a comment with your suggestions. In a few days, I'll christen the mini man.
7 comments:
He was wrapped up and boxed up, only to be unbound and set free a few days later. Now he will roam the Earth--while living among saintly women. CLEARLY, this is Lazarus.
As always, Dad has set the bar high. Meet the challenge, dear readers!
Hey! Go grade those papers!
Ok...I'm dodging all the Catholic stuff and going TV on this one...Frazier, specifically. Since he's so small,I vote for Gniles. Or we could do Cheers..and since he looks jolly...go with Gnorm. Hmmm...split vote...
Mama
I keep staring at him, and all I can think of is Anthony Hopkins, so I propose naming him "Hopkins" which has not only the added benefit of being what I would consider a very "gnomish" name but also of being vaguely Catholic, in the sense that his namesake, one Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Jesuit priest who happened to write some fantastic religious themed poetry.
Fiachra (FEE-akh-ra) - The patron saint of gardeners!
I'm posting this on behalf of Uncle Bill, who e-mailed his entry.
She should use the name "Norman"....Norman Gnome!!!! After the
not-so-famed in the West Canadian surgeon who traveled (as do traveling
gnomes do) to China during WW II to help the Chinese people fighting
tyranny. He saved literally thousands of lives and eventually died from
an infrection contracted from one of his patients. Although little
known in the West he is reverred in China by the billions who remember
WW II. Despite not being a saint, he sure made an impression on those
he lived with almost the same impact!!
icet
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