Reflecting on The Twelfth Day of Christmas AND Camels Hitting the Streets of The City That Never Sleeps . . .

Today I put my figurines of the three kings (pictured above) on display and invited a friend to dinner, so we could pay our own homage to ring out the Twelfth day of Christmas, January the Sixth: the Gregorian Calendar's Day for Epiphany (also known as The Feast of The Three Kings as well as The Twelfth Day of Christmas). To honor this day, in New York City, The Feast of the Three Kings Parade, a parade which includes camels, will march down Fifth Avenue. This is an annual event that I have yet to attend, in my nearly thirty years of living in New York, although the idea of seeing camels march down Fifth Avenue, in East Harlem, is more intriguing than checking out Easter bonnets at the annual Easter Parade down more trendy parts of Fifth Avenue — another annual parade that I've missed. The fact is: I don't list attending parades as one of my favorite things to do; and, although I live just a half a block from the part of Central Park West which is the route for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, I have only seen part of the parade twice.
The first time was in the early 1980's (when I did not live as close to the parade's route), when a great aunt (the sister of a great aunt that I have spoken about in previous posts which can be viewed here and here) visited me. It was pouring rain that Thanksgiving morning, and she was angry at me for introducing her as my "Great Aunt Ruth." A gentleman (who overheard her hiss at me through her angry words,"Please don't introduce me as your great aunt! Folks will know I am old!"), proclaimed to her, "Ok you are not so great!" The second time I saw part of the parade was in the nineties when my mother came to visit me and it was very cold.


Other than that, I have listened to the live coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on 1010  Wins AM Radio, even though I could hear the marching bands go down Central Park West, from my apartment. Tonight, I will also take advantage of radio parade coverage — although it will be after the fact— and air on NPR's (WNYC) All Things Considered, which has been promoted by these words, "New Yorkers have had a tough few weeks getting around. First there was the massive snow. Then, the sidewalks overflowed with unpicked up garbage. On Thursday, thanks to the Three Kings Day Parade, it was the camels." 

I confess that I  find I enjoy live coverage of parades when I can be in my pajamas while drinking a mug of strong black Venezuelan coffee — instead of battling crowds — but I will enjoy the 'after-the-fact' coverage while sipping Vega Del Pas. If you think you might feel the same, please feel free to listen to the Three King's Parade coverage by clicking here. Hearing the rhetoric leading up to the event has inspired me to create a line of cards in honor of this day — and you will find updates about these, as they become available, on this blog. For now the next major 'commercial'  holiday for sending a card is Valentine's Day. However, I am, as you know, an advocate of sending cards to those near and dear to you without waiting for an official holiday, but, with the way retail stores look, one would think that Valentine's Day is tomorrow — not over a month away. I'll concede time moves way too quickly, so you may want to browse Valentine's selections featured on my web-site where purchase information is available.