Sorry to intrude on this lengthening but lovely Sunday approaching the holiday week commemorating our independence from the King of England, as he was deemed in those days.

This is note is to commemorate the restoration not of the Monarch but the Gnome. We have mentioned him in passing, citing the old black-and-white image from the stack of family crap with the single black-ink notation on the back reading “1908.” We do not know if that is the first point in time the jolly little fellow took up his sentinel position on the family porch, or simply a moment in his long watch.

That was in New Jersey someplace, either the Oranges or Millburn where he was located when first I met him in person standing watch on Grandma’s porch. From there, upon her demise, he traveled to Michigan and vantages in suburban Detroit and later Grand Rapids where he guarded my parents without complaint. Upon their passing in 2012, he came to guard me down in rural Virginia. His livery by then was faded and a little forlorn.

Grace took charge to remedy the situation and laboriously rejuvenated his colors and he was placed on guard in the garden she tilled by the side of Refuge Farm. Good neighbors Tatiana and Matt took action to restore his base firmament and he was a happy Gnome with solid cement at his feet.

With our departure from the placid rural life to return to the bustle of Arlington I thought our ways may have parted. Instead, the indomitable and energetic Charlotte dragged him from garden to her vehicle and brought him north to a position of strength on the Patio at Big Pink. His lantern got an update, a 1920 Royal Navy brass lamp, and Grace ensured a bright new American flag was inserted in his left hand in tribute to the Holiday.

We pass this along to document a bit of his family history, since he has been guarding us for more than a century! Happy 4th!

JR