The Gargoyles are watching ....

Giant Gargoyle at Abraham's Antiques, Toronto

This week, a friend sent me a photo of a huge gargoyle at an antique store on Queen Street in Toronto.
Another friend sent me this photo, too, of a gargoyle over a bookstore in London, Ontario:



It's begun. Friends and family are starting to inundate me with gargoyle photos, statues, figurines, naturally enough I guess, since I DO write children's books about gargoyles. I love the photos, it always amazes me how many gargoyles are actually watching us from above.

This is in stark contrast to an earlier similar experience. When I was in university, someone gave me a Smurf figure. I put it on my desk, innocently enough. I really had no feelings either way about Smurfs. Then the flood started. Whenever someone wanted to buy me a gift, it was a Smurf. For the entire first year of university, my desk was a landing pad  for the little blue things. I had a few dozen by the end of the year, doing everything you can imagine: surfing (smurfing?), skateboarding, playing tennis, fishing, driving a car, carrying a briefcase, swinging a hammer. You get the picture.

It's an interesting compulsion that we humans have, to share and collect on each other's behalf. Not so crazy about Smurfs, but gargoyle photos? Awesome! Thanks to my friends for looking up (or down) for me this week.

Oh, and here's another great gargoyle photo a friend sent last fall from out west (thanks Natalie Hyde!):