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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Elves at Christmas

Recently we went to visit our grandchildren and while there,  experienced the joy and excitement the days before Christmas bring. I remember these days as a child, and can still recall the butterflies in my stomach as Santa's visit drew closer.
Today, our grandchildren, in the days before Christmas, enjoy the fun and antics of two special elves who showed up just after Thanksgiving, and have delighted the children with their nightly activities. It is the magic of the North Pole snowflakes sprinkled on themselves each evening which makes them come alive, go on nightly adventures, cause mischief throughout the house and hide for the "grands" to find them in the morning. Some work for the parents, but great delight for the kids!
Elves which first came to be known in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore continue to be mysterious with wonderful supernatural powers. They do lots of good things as well as cause mischief! One thing I like about elves is that they love nature, and dwell in forests, wooded areas and leaf-filled trees. Even Santa's elves are said to head south after Christmas to live in the warm, southern forests until they are called back by Santa to the North Pole. They love the springtime when they celebrate the first blooms and enjoy swimming in lakes and running rivers. Elves have exceptional endurance and as they grow older (some live to be 1,000 yrs.), they become stronger and wiser. (Nice!)
Are elves real? Well now, I don't know. Is Santa real? I put these two questions in the same category. And, all you have to do to answer the Santa question is read the book, "Is There A Santa Claus;" the story of eight year old, Virginia O'Hanlon, who was beginning to doubt, and wrote to the New York Times for the answer. If you do not know the New York Times's answer, it is a book worth finding and reading!
It seems to me that elves can be like angels (do you believe in angels?) in our lives; that we, ourselves, can be elves and angels in each other's lives; not just at Christmas time, but all year long.

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