And the Winner is…

Mt Rainier

This is about the “Name that Schroeder” contest, but most importantly, the results that I know you have all been waiting for. But before I come right out and tell you what the name is, I must tell you about the journey to get to his name. After-all, it isn’t about the destination…It is all about the journey. At least that is what they say, and they say lots of things you know. Ok, having said all that now to walk you through the journey.

To begin with we had to do some research and get to his “roots” so to speak. We felt like he was some kind of Gnome so that is where we started our research, and this is what we found.

But upon researching these creatures of German folklore and looking at more and more photos of them, I must admit … I can honestly say that I see them with different eyes now.
Gnome pronounced “nome”:
1) a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man who lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure;
2) a mythical being of a legendary race endowed with exceptional vision and heightened human sensitivities; their task is to provide assistance to all living things; gnomes symbolize integrity, honesty and hard work.

Once we understood that we knew we had in fact found his “roots”. We deduced that our little friend is of course German, we know that by his last name, and we know he was born in 1966, so that makes him an old man. If 7 inches tall isn’t tiny then I don’t know what is. We also know he likes German Classical composers, we can tell that by his sweater. We are thinking he is a modern day Gnome. Yeah that’s it, the new breed of Gnome, that is what he is. The latest in a long line of Gnomes that has been around for centuries. Yeah that’s it!

Still need a name though – all we know is his name is Schroeder…Could this be the mythical “Schroeder”, that epitomizes all things Schroeder? After all we do know that Schroeder is the oldest family name in the world don’t we. And every time someone lied or committed a sin they had to change their name from Schroeder. So just think about how many family names there are now(that should tell you something alright). This of course means that the only true and righteous people left in the world are [insert drum roll here]…Schroeder’s. The only way to get a reprieve on having one of those myriad pf lesser names is to be fortunate to marry a Schroeder. I got to tell ya even being married to a Schroeder isn’t as easy as you think. There aren’t many that make it you know, and it isn’t because Schroeder’s are hard to live with either. Oh no, on the contrary, Schroeder’s are some of the kindest, loving, attentive people in the world. They do, after all, embody all things that are goodness, happiness, and of course sunshine. Women just have trouble living such a righteous life. It is just simply a matter of living that life of truth, wisdom, vision and the burden of exceptional knowledge that all Schroeder’s just naturally have that is, in most cases, just to much for someone of a lessor family name to be able to deal with. It has been my experience that once they have been married to a Schroeder and don’t make it… they are doomed to settle for a lessor existence in every way.

You are probably wondering what has all this got to do with naming him? Well I will get to that shortly, but first, let me tell you about the picture.

We just happened to catch him laying out enjoying the view of the mountain from our house. He heard me come in and he turned around the way you see him in the picture. So I took his picture and we talked for a bit. You see while he was laying there he was busily making plans to climb Mt. Rainier.

He had laid out the course up the mountain and was ready to go. I asked him how he was going to handle the deep snow and all for the climb. He had that figured. He had designed snowshoes using toothpicks and dental floss (such a brilliant idea). Not only that but the design was such that when he got to the top he could turn them into skis and ski back to our house. He is pretty sure he can set the record for climbing up and down Mt. Rainier. And you know what…I bet he can. We think he is not only a Schroeder but also part MacGyver too. How else could you explain using what is at hand to figure his way out of a problem? I know it’s scary isn’t it. A MacGyver Schroeder combination would be not only dangerous but very powerful too.

And that is the rest of the story on how “MacGyver (Mac) Schroeder” got his name. But don’t give me all the credit for his name. Oh no, it was my son Don that really zeroed in on the MacGyver aspect.