"We do not need to merely see beauty... we want something else which can be hardly be put into words... to be untied with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves."
~C.S. Lewis
Okay, I get it, some folks find the Elf on the Shelf a bit odd... maybe even off putting, but look at those adorable little faces, and they are distinctly mid-century, which makes them wonderful in my Christmassy mind. I miss all the decorations and ornaments I grew up with, and yes, even the big bulky lights our parents used to put on our Christmas trees. You know, the ones who occasionally set the trees ablaze? Happily these little elves have been very well behaved, watching over our trees, since 1990, when my mother-in-law gifted them to me, from the set she bought in 1962, for each her three sons and one day, daughter-in-laws. I melted when I saw them. My mother-in-law passed away earlier this year from Alzheimer's disease, just like my own mother did in 2005, so I feel even more sentimental then ever about them. The new Elf on the Shelf looks completely different now, much more updated, less like an elf and more like a child in an elf costume. Sigh. I guess folks find the new ones less off putting, but give me old school! These guys are 63 years old, and I love them, so there! Elf on the Shelf dates back to the 1940's, but this version came along in the early 60's, just like hubby and I did.
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