Does anyone remember that cartoon David the Gnome that played on Nickelodeon way back in the day (and by back in the day, I mean the early ’90s, for all you shoulder-pad-rockin’, slap-bracelet-wearing folks out there)? The show followed the daily adventures of David and his wifey, Lisa, a couple of 350+-year-old gnomes who lived in a tree and did gnome-y things (like riding around on their fox BFF and hitching rides from local birds). After a nice chat about all things gnome last night, I learned that Jared was a big fan of the show. I, however, found it pretty scary. [CORRECTION: This post originally indicated that my older brother was a mega fan of David the Gnome. He has since informed me that he thought the show was terrifying; he only liked Swift the fox. The gnomes, he agrees, were quite scary.] I’m not sure whether it was the somber music, the menacing trolls or the more serious bent (serious for a kid cartoon) of the show, but it just wasn’t my thing. I preferred my early ’90s tree-dwellers in the form of Gummi Bears (they did come with a much better theme song).
Well, I went a lot of years after those early cartoon days without thinking much about gnomes (wild, I know). But sometime around August of this year, the crazy little guys (and gals, on occasion) started popping up in all sorts of places. Something must have happened to me in the nearly 20 years since David the Gnome was on TV because suddenly the sight of these tiny pointed-hat-and-silly-shoe-wearing characters makes me all sorts of smiley. And that, my friends, automatically qualifies them as a newfound favorite thing.
Because I was seeing them so often, I started snapping photos of all the little gnomes around town (contrary to popular belief, gnomes are quite pleased to have their photos taken). Here are a few of my faves:
I found this guy in a store window at Country Club Plaza in Kansas City and loved him mostly for his purple duds. He looks pretty posh, don’t you think? Who knew gnomes looked so great in pastels?
OK, so this one is probably an elf and not a gnome, but I loved his sparkly outfit and sleepy face. And check out those chompers! Methinks braces are in his future.
Now even my notes can be gnome-y! Woo hoo to that!
So there you have it: An abundance of gnomes to know and love. The funniest thing to me about all this gnominess is that none of the gnomes are being used for conventional purposes. I can’t remember the last time I saw a lawn gnome being used as a lawn or garden. Can you?
Keep your eyes peeled; these little guys are everywhere.
XO,
Katrina
David the Gnome photo courtesy of glassofwin.com Gnome cards photo courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.
I vaguely remember Alex Grelle dressing up like a gnome for some play in High School… or was that an elf too? And can I just say that “gnome” may possibly be the most fun word to spell? I may just start spelling my name Gmichelle. 🙂
Yes! He and Sarah wrote that children’s theater with gnomes I think. Sooo good. And, yes, gnome is a fun word to spell. Almost as fun as Gmichelle. 🙂
Was there ever an episode of this show where the gnomes mixed chili peppers into chocolate and turned the mixture into a statue? I saw either a tv show or a movie where this happened when I was a little girl and I can’t remember what it was.
I don’t remember that episode, but it certainly could have happened on the show. Those crazy gnomes were always cooking up something. 🙂