It ain't over til it's over

Happy end of Hanukkah for all the good little Jewish boys and girls. The festival of lights have been dimmed, and now it's time to get on the naughty side of a jolly old man. Don't fret too hard, kinderlach. Saint Nicholas still has you in his sights for the eve of a resurrected young man. Should you decide to leave milk and cookies for the guy in red, he'd surely leave a peppermint stick among the crumbs.

It was definitely an interesting festivus this year. With the newly coined term "Thanksgivikkah", people were calling home, wishing loved ones a "Gobble Tov", due to Hanukkah falling on Thanksgiving in 2013. Webster must be rolling over in his grave... with all the acquired definitions one must now know! My, how times have changed. People do, too.

Yes, gone are the days when humans sat around after eating their turkey dinner, and reclaimed a sort of spiritual awakening ("Oh, God, I ate too much!", "Dear Jesus... that was a lot of stuffing!"), they now eat early to shop all night long (for some reason Lionel Richie's 'All Night Long (All Night)' popped in my head as I wrote that). All the more reason to spend your new gelt on that item you've always wanted. I know a cousin was working at a local mall Thursday night, and she had stopped in to a big box electronic store around midnight. No lines, no waiting. What did she walk out with, for cheap? Kindle Fire HDX 7", that's what. When she told us what she paid, I was like, "dammmmnn....". It was literally a steal. Since then, she's been loading it up with books and loves it. Can't see herself with out it now. I can relate - I bought my mother the Barnes and Noble reader, and she is loving the fact she can sit, read, and now worry about schlepping to the store to purchase a large font book. Personally, I still like my hand held books.

Like now, I'm reading Bob Dylan's Chronicles. Because work has got me tied up through my lunch, I can't read while eating. However, the couple pages I've gone through, have turned out pretty decent. Dylan starts off by introducing the reader to his first meeting with an agent, and ends up rewinding a little bit to explain how he got there. Thus far, I'm learning a lot of the folk history in New York. Who was who, where they went, why they went. I hope to finish the book before the month is out.

Staying on the Hanukkah theme,
My mother mentioned today, she went shopping to see if any deals were going on with the left over Hanukkah swag at the stores. Apparently, they consider it Christmas items, therefore, will not be reduced at any cost, until December 26th. "What about Thanksgiving? That's over. You reduced those items!" she asked. "That's different. What you're asking for is part of Christmas. Christmas hasn't happened yet", she was told. Well, now she's stuck trying to get her stock pile of candles and dishes and such, until after the rebirth of a hippy carpenter. Makes no sense, as the Jewish holiday is over. She's not trying to score anything off the wreaths or pine cones. She just wants 10 per cent off paper plates.

Whatever, things have to wait. Hopefully they won't fly off the shelves and back in to the store's storage bins right after Christmas.

At any rate, I was at at local out door shopping mall on Sunday the first. The Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida was celebrating the holiday with an outdoor festival of sorts. Mini concert from a guy named Eduardo, candle lighting ceremony on a big menorah, a comedian, and for the kids - moon jump! There was a face painter and plenty of food to go around (free, but they were accepting donations).

We stayed about an hour and a half - enough time to see a group of high ranking doctors light the menorah (via a tiki torch) with the Reb, the kids from the shul sang some song, and Eduardo did some jigs. I must say, out of everything we say, the musician was the best.

                            If I Were A Rich Man, from the Fiddler On The Roof soundtrack.
                                          taken on my iPhone, via the Instagram app


Pictures or it didn't happen:

Another religious year is over, so I guess I shall end my Hanukkah post on that note. Wishing everyone a safe and healthy week, looking forward to Christmas, and a prosperous New Year. Catch y'all on the next post..


Cheers;





Gift ideas for next year, as well as previously mentioned items: