The gnome car faithfully hugged the road on the side of the mountain.
Daddy gnome asked, "Are we going the right way?"
Mama gnome said, "Hmmmm..." She stared out at the window, mesmerized by the rolling dips and gorges.
Daddy gnome said, "Ehemm... Mama gnome? Are we going the right way?"
"What? Oh...let me see..."Mama gnome's stubby finger followed the wriggly lines. "Looks like it." Mama gnome sat up straight. She felt quite at ease with the map.
The wrinkly paper was an old friend.
The computer on the other hand...always played mind games on the old gnome. She didn't trust that whiny gps voice either.
Give me a map any day, Mama gnome always thought.
It was important the gnome family didn't get lost on this special day, Earth Day 2011.
They had a special date with humans, tree loving humans, as it were.
"Trees!" Gnomelets who were quietly sitting in the back of the gnome car burst into sudden movements of waving and pointing at these:
Elder gnomelet said, "They look strange, Mama. They're black and they don't have leaves."
Younger gnomelet said, "No leaves."
Mama gnome said, "I'm afraid so, little ones. There was a fire here last year. That's why we're here. Somebody's got to do something about it."
Soon, this came into view:
By the by, the gnome family, made it to the campsite.
Mama gnome kept her fingers crossed. Time and time again, she'd been disappointed by the smallish number of humans she'd seen at events like: Coastal Cleanup Day and 350.org's International Day of Climate Action.
The gnome family were greeted by this wondrous being.
Of course Mama gnome and young gnomelets proceeded to hug it tremendously.
Mama gnome's trepidation disappeared.
There were more humans here than Mama gnome had seen at previous ecoevents.
She beamed at the tall human lady with the sign up sheet.
The gnome family were given strict instructions to wear a hard hat at all times even during breaks.
Daddy gnome deftly adjusted the hard hats for the young ones and soon the gnome's pointy hats were squashed underneath the yellow roundish hats.
Mama gnome kept a firm grip on younger gnomelet's hand and Daddy gnome took older gnomelet's hand.
The trek was quite daunting...slippery slopes covered with ash, rocky dips, and over streams.
Mama gnome's small heart pounded, fearful for the quite short young gnomelets' legs.
But they did her proud. The young gnomelets marched on without a single complaint.
At times, the gnome family over took humans who had to stop and rest.
Along the way they saw:
Charred remains of a burnt tree...
A bleak mountaintop that looks like a desert...
Sad muses of trees...
More burnt trees on a rocky slope...
Mama gnome didn't know what they were before but now they looked like giant burnt pineapples.
After over an hour of hiking on rough terrain, a tree loving human gave instructions on how to plant the saplings to give the young trees the best chances of survival.
The kindly human instructor said, the trees had a survival rate of 75%.
The humans and the gnome family went to work.
Here was Mama gnome's secret weapon...
Older gnomelet aka super ecowarrior.
She scoffs at the face of ecoenemies...and deals them a terrible blow with her tiny hands.
After what seemed like hours of work,the gnomes were tired and thirsty.
Other humans had left already. But the gnomes stayed and carried out what they set out to do. They finished planting the young trees on the bleak mountain.
Afterward they faced an even more daunting task, the hike back.
The gnome family climbed up steep inclines, held on to rocky crevices, and found footing on ash covered ground.
With faces covered with soot and ash, and bones and muscles weary, the gnomes encountered a gentle creature who bade them go on.
Finally, they spotted the campsite.
When the gnome family reached the campsite, the Forest Ranger and the leader of tree humans applauded the young gnomelets. The youngest participants for the tree planting event made the biggest impression.
Elder gnomelet said, "Mama, my cheeks are red."
Mama gnome said, "You did good, my love. You did good."
It was close to three in the afternoon and the gnomes were famished having missed lunch.
The young gnomelets cheered when they discovered...a giant cookie in their lunch boxes.
Mama gnome was very impressed with the lunch box made from recycled paper.
NO PLASTIC OR STYROFOAM in sight. And she was grateful for the vegetarian sandwich.
After their meal, the young gnomelets made wishes at the stream, throwing pine cones into the water.
Mama gnome made her own wish...a not so secret wish for more trees.
Mama gnome wishes all humans would help make Earth Day everyday, make her wish come true and go green...
(c) all photos and text by Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog
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