Back on the road again
We’re back on the road, and so far, things are holding up mechanically. Readers of this blog will recall the many maintenance headaches we had last summer. In fact, when I stated that I had done some routine maintenance, one of my friends misunderstood, and thought that I had once again been stranded. Not so.
We’re encamped at the Santa Clarita Elks Lodge, and one of the first things I noticed was the smell of fire. At first, I thought it was a fireplace or campfire. In fact, the effect is the lingering smell of the wildfires of last October.
To make matters more worrisome, if not seriously dangerous, the wind picked up. We had 50 MPH Santa Ana’s over night, which made the trailer shake and rattle, but, thank heavens, not roll. News reports indicated that blown embers from a structure fire in Hollywood was setting nearby palm trees alight. I tend to forget how devoid of disaster my own home area is. Except for the occasional earthquake, we seem isolated from fire, flood, mud and other calamities. (Keyn Eina Hurra)
We spent Christmas Eve at a friend’s house, and are back for Christmas day. Last night, the fare was all seafood, as influenced by the old restriction against eating meat on Christmas Eve. I was reduced to salad and pasta, but that was fine. Today we tackle the turkey, the stuffing and the calzone.
On Thursday, Roseann and I will be traveling into Los Angeles for various (enjoyable) errands.
Current plans call for remaining here in Santa Clarita till Sunday. We’ll go to Chabad of Santa Clara Valley for Shabbos services.
More as events develop.
Old Family Photo
This photo is of me, at 2-1/2, with my cousin Roy. Roy must be the oldest friend I have. Also show, in order, are Roy’s father, my mother, and Roy’s mother.
The photo was processed in January, 1958.
My trip to Phoenix (another Chanukah Posting)
I went to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in a 2008 planning meeting for my company. I flew Southwest from and back to San Jose. In this case, the air travel was blessedly uneventful and comfortable. I think Southwest is getting it right.
Since this was the last two nights of Chanukah, I brought my menorah to light. One of my partners snapped this photo on his iPhone:
We lit outside the hotel room door (exterior corridors) with a window so we could see the candles too. My partners, non-Jewish, were quite moved by the event.
I think this is all for Chanukah postings for this year.
Happy holidays to all.
Chanukah Menorah (Chanukiah)
My grandmother gave me this Chanukiah when I moved to California. Before she gave it to me, it sat in her china closet for longer than I was alive. She always told me it was for me, and she kept her word.
I don’t like to let religious items sit without use, so we lit it, the first year we had it. I’ve lit it most years since, except when we spent Chanukah in the trailer.
Note the oil vessel on the upper left, and the shammos (service lamp) that resembles the blowing wind, at the upper right. The eight daily lamps are sheep. The heads open to fill the vessels with oil. There is a little chain between the two library lions so the sheep don’t escape.
This was taken after Shabbat, beginning day 5 of Chanukah. This is our religion table. It includes the Chanukaiah, the candle Chanukiah that we lit the first few days of the holiday, Shabbat Candlesticks, a bunch of not-yet-used Yahrtseit Lights, a pile of benchers and siddurim (prayer books) as well as other stuff that we will eventually put away.
Note that a Menorah is a more general term for a candlabra. A Chanukah Menorah, is, in specific, a Chanukiah.
Happy Chanukah to all
Happy Chanukah
Well, it’s Day 2 of Chanukah. Yesterday, we went to the Chabad of San Jose Menorah Lighting downtown. Rabbi Cunin had quite a shindig going. Music, dancing, etc.
Tonight we made potato latkes for dinner and lit our Menorah. We had some nice Chanukah, and generic Jewish folk music CDs, and a very pleasant time was had.
Happy Chanukah to all, and to all a good night.
Docked at the ISS
I’ve been playing around with “Orbiter” which is a simulator for orbital and interplanetary space operations. I just conducted my first two successful dockings at the International Space Station. This is an interesting psychomotor skill, like flying. It involves controlling the spacecraft in it’s three axes - pitch, roll and yaw, while also managing translation “up” and “down”, relative to the docking port on the other vessel, and also the rate of close. The object of the exercise is to position the ship docking port to docking port while closing at less than 0.1 meters per second. If you get it right, you dock. If wrong, you crash. Actually, you pass harmlessly THROUGH the other vessel.
Needless to say, there is a large Orbiter community with a collection of ships, scenery, scenarios and screenshots.
Not a whole lot going on lately. We took down the Sukkah and came home. The trailer is in the shop for routine work. We continue to drag things out to the dumpster while planning our exit from this apartment.
All quiet on the western front.
Booth Dwelling, in theory and practice
Well, we had a wonderful Wedndsday night (first night of Sukkos) dinner in the Sukkah. Like 90% of the Jewish population, we had chicken. The other ten percent had brisket. It is very cozy, with a Sukkah that is 5.5 feet (1.6 meters) on a side. A table in the corner, two chairs at right angles, a lamp overhead. We really felt that the time was special.
On Thursday, we went to Shul (Synagogue) and then went to the Rabbi’s house for lunch in his Sukkah. The lunch filled us so much that we didn’t make a formal meal for the evening. We had a symbolic meal in the Sukkah.
Tonight, Shabbat, we return to the Sukkah for our evening meal, unless it rains, in which case we’ll have a symbolic meal outside and then eat indoors. There is a front passing through, and I’m not sure what we’ll get.
Over the weekend, we’ve invited some guests, in order to fulfill the Mitzvah of having guests in the Sukkah.
So far, nobody has said “boo” about this oddball dining shelter we have. I’m amazed at how much our fellow campers can mind their own business. Of course, there aren’t many of them, being midweek after Labor Day. We’ll have a few more folks in the park starting this afternoon. I’m happy to answer questions about this custom.
And Ye Shall Dwell in Booths
The Bible tells us that “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:42-43). This is a part of Succot, one of the three major festivals of Judaism, the other two of which are Pesach and Shavuot.
When I was a child, we always built a Sukkah. When I moved from my parents house, I never lived anyplace where I could do so, and drifted away from the custom. I always tried to visit a Sukkah during the holiday, and make the blessing concerning “sitting in the Sukkah.”
Last year, we realized we had a novel solution to the problem. We bought a prefab traveling Sukkah and took it to a campground, setting it up next to the trailer. Since the Sukkah celebrates the children of Israel camping out, we are camping out next to our camping vehicle. It’s self-referential.
Anyway, here are a few photos of my Sukkah, set up at Thousand Trails, in Morgan Hill, CA.
We’ll eat our meals in the Sukkah, but not sleep in it, as it’s not as long on a side as I am.
Chag Sameach, everyone.
I’ll see your challah…
… and raise you a challah.
I’ve been wrestling with the consistency of my challah, and decided to make one by hand, rather than produce the dough from the bread machine. I am hoping for a softer “crumb.” Also, I discovered that, while it’s muscle intensive, making the dough by hand is not beyond me. This means that we won’t have to take the bread machine in the trailer. Looking forward to cutting into this one…
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