I’ve got an informative page on my website about garden gnomes that caught the attention of an artistic gardening friend, Bill. He was kind enough to share the following story and photos with all of you that read my blog (I told him of course we’d all be interested! ).

So here’s what Bill had to say:

Hi Claudia: We’ve had this garden gnome kicking around our family for a few generations. He sat in front of my Grandmother’s house on Long Island for decades and then my parents hosted him in their yard in Bucks County, PA for about 10 years before I took possession (responsibility?) in 1996.

A few weeks ago (end of August, 2009) we had a quick but very violent thunderstorm that brought down a 100+ year old hickory tree in my backyard. It fell laying on other trees hovering precariously just two feet or so over my neighbor’s garage.

The only portion of the rotted roots that didn’t pull from the earth are underneath where my lucky little guy stood.

Had it fallen any other direction it would have certainly hit my house or my neighbor’s house which could have been catastrophic. Nobody was hurt nor was there any damage.

Do I believe that gnomes are good luck? You bet I do!

Enjoy the pictures…

Best,

Bill

P.S. BTW – I have since moved my “good luck” gnome to a safer vantage point where he can keep watch as the experts remove the tree!

Thank you Bill, for this very intriguing garden gnome story.