We go to Nepenthe in Big Sur for our Christmas lunch. The adults are enchanted with the huge vistas of the ocean and the mountains. The kids focus on the color crayons. The seven year old car sick boy falls asleep on the bench by the table. We cover him with our jackets. The six year old princess talks and colors and eats a hot dog.

We tell stories to each other about our lives and dreams. We feel so grateful to have each other today.

We enter the gift store as if it was a museum, we can look and touch but we're not buying anything. The store is filled with color and flash, toys, books, soaps, candles, drums, cloths. Scents, sounds, colors, movements are beguiling.

We want everything, we want the atmosphere of the store to magically be recreated in our homes.

We leave with empty hands feeling strangely satisfied.