Beside the shore of the hallowed lake, there has dwelt a kindhearted Elf for nigh unto 20 years. A shy emissary from the lands of enchantment,  on spring’s first day he returns to his dwelling by the water.    Politely knock on his door and peer inside to see piles of candy and slips of paper, little notes written by the hands of children.  The young ones leave him treats and letters, with sincere greetings or serious queries, to which Mr. Elf kindly replies.  Upon their return a child will find a note addressed to them by name, neatly typed in the smallest of print.  So many to rifle through, but they always find a merry reply, with the closing salutation, “I believe in You.”

Then when summer is done and fall in is in the air, it is time for the Elf to vacate his tree once more.  He hangs a plaque announcing that he has departed and returned to his castle in the west for the winter.

True story!

Footnote:

Thanks to my exchange with Laura Bruno, who reblogged this on her blog, I recalled an additional piece of information that I’d like to add to this post ~

This tree is located on the shores of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.  The lake was named by an army colonel who was stationed in the area in the early 1800′s. He found the lake so beautiful that it reminded him of his cherished fiancé, Harriet, who was far away in the east. So he christened it in her honor. Harriet’s last name was…Lovejoy!

[the name “Harriet” is derived from “Henry”, derived from Henrik, derived from Germanic Heimrich:  heim = home & ric = ruler…and thus means “ruler of the home”, otherwise rendered as “keeper of the hearth”.  ]