REYES/KINGS DAY

January 6th is the Epiphany, Kings Day in Spain. It's my favorite day of the Christmas season, and the last. I have beautiful memories of when I was a child, even though I never received what I had asked for in my letter. That always puzzled me: can't they read, these Kings? I would wonder. But I am a good sport and always ended up loving what I did get. Being here, in Los Angeles, alone, I wasn't sure if the Kings would come this far. Price of oil is high and their camels may need extra water to cross oceans and continents. I worried. Unnecessarily so, it turns out: the Kings arrived punctually, leaving their gifts by the raggedy shoes I left near the window, as tradition requests: three beautiful books, leather-bound Conan Doyle, illustrated Shakespeare and soft-covered Koertge, a sweet pencil and a DVD-pack with some of my beloved Westerns and a juicy special edition of Jaws. This time they nailed it, them Kings! So many years have passed and I finally got all I wanted and more (as some things are too personal to share here). It is never too late to be a child, and THAT is the best gift. Isn't life grand?