2018 Life Logs, Day 336: A Wonderful Meshing of Traditions
Date: Sunday, December 2, 2018
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 56, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Some people spell it Chanukkah and others Hanukkah. However you spell it, it is a minor holiday in the Jewish faith. But because it falls close to the Christian celebration of Christmas, it has become a popular holiday. Heather’s husband Jed is Jewish, but as a family they have combined Jewish, Christian, and even Pagan traditions into their lives. They celebrate Hanukkah and Passover each year, but they also celebrate Christmas and Easter. A a favorite celebration for all of us is the Pagan Yule or observance of Solstice. Hanukkah, Christmas, and Winter Solstice all fall in December, so this is a month of celebration. Lighting the candles each of the eight nights of Hanukkah is a favorite of the boys, so on this first night, the candles were lit and we had a festive dinner.
Latkes are a favorite of all the Goldstones, so Heather fried latkes for more than hour to make enough to fill everyone. I had Hanukkah presents for the boys which were Christmas pajamas. It is such a wonderful meshing of traditions. The boys love Hannah Anderson organic cotton pj’s, so I bought holiday pajamas for each. Ollie got green pajamas decorated with holiday doggies, Jonah got blue pj’s with a Santa Claus theme, and Sam got red and white striped pj’s with green trim.
Sam put his on first and Heather started laughing uncontrollably because he looked like Waldo from Where’s Waldo. Waldo always wears a red and white striped shirt with a matching hat. And he also wears glasses. So Sam borrowed Jed’s glasses and found a hat left today by neighbor Molly and played the role to the hilt.
Everyone played Dreidel. What a fun evening!
Earlier in the day, we visited Highfield Hall to meet Santa and to listen to a cappella holiday singing.
Neighbors Molly and Joey went with us and we all had a nice time. Sam was mostly interested in the model trains,
not Santa, but all enjoyed the singing. Jonah’s ENT was one of the singers and he was quite entertaining. He did a great job impersonating Elvis when they sang Blue Christmas.
Joey, Jonah, and Molly talked to Santa.
But Ollie decided to be Santa, rather than to talk to him, by wearing his Santa hat and beard.
Joey actually started telling jokes to Santa which got great big belly laughs from the jolly old man.
There were lovely holiday decorations. Some of our favorites were a Christmas tree decorated with drums,
a Christmas tree decorated with marine signal flags spelling out a holiday message of peace,
and a huge hanging decoration in the stairwell with large rings that looked like metal wagon wheels.
It was all lovely. Again, what fun.
We have a very busy week coming up, actually two very busy weeks, and next weekend is Falmouth’s Holidays by the Seas celebration featuring the Elf Run, the Jingle Jog, the arrival of Santa in the Harbor, the downtown stroll, the lighting of the Falmouth Green, and the largest Christmas parade in southeast Massachusetts. Lots of holiday cheer coming our way.
