Earlier this month when I was in Des Moines on business, I had a few hours to spare the day I arrived. I drove 35 minutes north of my hotel to Reiman Gardens, located on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. The gardens are beautiful in their own right, but I went there specifically to see Elwood, the world’s largest concrete garden gnome! He’s tucked away in a quiet back corner of the garden in a serene space surrounded by trees. Elwood has been a resident of Reiman Gardens since the 40th Anniversary of…