'Tis the Season

It’s a mish-mash season. You have Hanukkah on one hand—a holiday I think is way too commercialized, and while it has some meaning, it’s not the kind of celebration for which you ignite the outside of your house with lights and all sorts of oddball decorations that waste precious power. I think with intermarriage, Hanukkah has been elevated to Christmas-lite status. And, as I obnoxiously asked my wife last night, why do people make such effort to decorate their homes with lights and inflatable Snowmen and electronic reindeer when they do nothing the rest of the year that has any element of community pride or spirit? Are people struck with some bolt of religious fervor that equates the birth of their Lord with high utility bills and animotronic elves? Can’t get people to vote or attend community meetings, but once a year they’re willing to shell out hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to create gaper’s blocks. Yeah, yeah, I am a scrooge.

It’s the end of the Bat Mitzvah season for 2004. The season include very L-O-N-G Saturdays with a religious service in the AM followed by a party in the evening (which ends at midnight) followed by early Sunday morning religious school classes. Plus, we’re part of an insane carpool that flies by the seat of its pants (when it flies at all). The girls in my daughter’s circle also pair off on Saturdays and go home with one another and then have sleep-overs after the party. Yep, it adds to the insanity. We have a month break before the next shindig.

It’s the season to be in Arizona. Don’t tell anyone, but we will have a high of 79 degrees today. It is GOREGEOUS out and those who got lucky enough to visit this week are wearing shorts and (probably) sitting by some hotel pool. The only bad thing about living here is that you cannot come to visit and just and be blown away by the weather.

Tis the season for us to give more than we receive. I am giving away my ’92 Honda before the end of the year and today we’re shopping for some needy kids in the Christmas Angels program (sponsored by the Salvation Army). You go to PV Mall, select little angel cards from some trees and each one has a gift wish list on it. We’re headed out to Target ® in a while to do a panzer raid on these wish lists. It’s a level two mitzvah 9as the scale goes). The best mitzvah is when neither the giver nor receiver knows each other. Level two is when the giver knows the receiver… and so on.