When I was  little girl, I had a tutor who taught me to read.

I was home for the first six months of second grade, and I don’t remember any math or social studies or science.  All I remember is fairy tales.

She gave me a book of fairytales for Christmas and I devoured it.  And I’ve been reading like that ever since. 

But one of my favorite stories was about the Cobbler and the Elves.

You know the story- the poor cobbler can only afford one more piece of leather, so he cuts it out one evening and then goes to bed intending to sew the shoes in the morning.  But that night, elves creep into his shop and carefully craft the shoes into  a work of art and he sells them quickly and for a  good profit.  This goes on until he is quite prosperous and he decides to thank them with little green outfits that his wife sews for them.

The elves love the outfits, put them on and prance about and then leave-never to return- but it is OK because the cobbler is now well known and well to do.

I told you all that so I can tell you this.

I’ve been feeling rather poorly lately, and trying to keep up with Christmas preparations and get ready to go to Chincoteague has just about done me in!

SO, I was taking a small break and napping, and I woke up to see this vision-

AN ELF came to help me and clean up the living room!

I KNOW it’s an elf because of the green pointy hat with a star on the top.

And I am truthfully as thankful as any prosperous cobbler.

All I had to provide was a  hat!