Little rain, no bees

This week is the holiday of Sukkot. For one week we leave the comfort of our homes to conduct at least some of our daily activities, such as eating and socializing, in a temporary structure known as a Sukkah. In New England this is not ordinarily a time of year when dining al fresco is popular, which sometimes adds to the festive mood and sometimes detracts from it. We hope for weather that is cool enough to discourage bees, but warm enough for a bowl of soup to remain hot. And of course we hope for bright sunny days and clear moonlit nights. The holidays follow the Jewish calendar, which is based on a lunar calendar, and Sukkot begins on the 15^th day (half way through the month) of the month of Tishrei, so there is always a full moon at the start of the holiday. Since there are not many bright lights in Sharon, the moon is quite beautiful on clear evenings.

We are now in the fourth day of the holiday, and at least three out of four bright sunny days isn’t bad. The first two days were quite perfect. There was not a single bee to be seen, even with honey on the table as is traditional this time of year, but it was not so cold to necessitate full winter outerwear. We were disappointed that we woke up to torrential rain yesterday, but we cannot complain. Today was another delightful day.

We always constructed a Sukkah on the patio of our house in New York. But we cannot do so in the Sharon apartment complex, so we eat all of our meals with our children or our friends. On the second day, friends whom we have known since our Dallas days who later moved to Sharon host an annual pot luck luncheon in their Sukkah. We were having such a nice time that we were among the last to leave.  

A graduate school friend recently posted a link to a t-shirt on her Facebook page. The shirt is red and in bright white letters it reads

I majored in Statistics.

To save time, let’s just assume
that I’m always right.

I couldn’t resist ordering one and it arrived here just before the holiday. At least now my daughters know why they have always been expected to make that assumption with their mom.

Have a great week.

Love,

Rebecca