Remember those gnomes I had so much fun making earlier this month? They have been cutely adorning the area between mudroom entry and living room, bringing me a smile each time I go by them.
I had planned to give them out to friends when we gathered for a sunrise breakfast tomorrow morning. It’s the last day before we change the clocks, and we wouldn’t have to get up very early to still catch those first not-so-early rays.
We had thought this all through, given the social distancing rules and the rise in COVID all around the country. We intended to sit outside at a friend’s house with a wonderful view. She even offered to make a fire, in case it was cool.
Pandemic preparation… check.
Weather… um, no. Turns out that tomorrow morning will be about 19 F (-7 C). This is not a pleasant time to stand in the predawn chill; that’s downright cold. Today’s snow made it clear that we’ve rolled into the next season around her.
It’s clear: I will not be getting together with my friends tomorrow morning.
As my daughter prepared to leave for her one hour of in-person instruction for the day, I glanced again at those cute little gnome fellows. I thought of two friends of mine who work at the high school—maybe there was a way to at least share a bit of Halloween fun with some friends after all?
My daughter confirmed that she could deliver the gnomes. “And maybe… could I give one to each of my teachers, too?” Absolutely!
Two hours later, I had a gracious thankyou email—and a phone call. Turns out that I am not the only one amused by their faces. One teacher even said he was going to use his gnome to stand in for his face during part of the Zoom instruction today, aiming for a bit of levity and fun for his students.
The pandemic brought about my determination to make the gnomes… the weather took away my distribution plan.
But after so many months dealing with having to go from plan A to adjusting to plan B and then yet again pivoting to plan C, it seems both my daughter and I are getting used to just moving on. Her thoughts of gifting gnomes to teachers? Such a happy surprise for the recipients.
And the silver lining for me is seeing just how well trained in flexibility we are becoming around here!