From the Cabin of Sinterklaas
My dearest …,
The boat came in this week and the horse has been restless ever since, which is how I know it is nearly time. I go over the list in the cabin each evening by lamplight, and tonight I stopped at a name I was glad to see: .
You should know I am not really a surprise. That is the difference between me and some of the others. The whole country knows I am coming. There are songs about it, sung at the door, badly and loudly, for weeks. I have heard every one of them and I have no complaints.
I was told about , , and I have written it down, because that is the part of the job I care about. Amerigo will want his carrot in the shoe — he has come a long way and he is not shy about it.
Sing by the door tonight. Sing even if you are not good at it. Especially if you are not good at it.
and a very good evening to you —
P.S. — If there is hay in your shoe as well as a carrot, the horse notices, and the horse remembers.