Now for the Holidays

First night of Hanukkha/Chanukha/__________ (your spelling here).     

Zen Koan for today: If you're home alone with no kids around, does Chanukha make a sound? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. I lit the candles anyway, on my daughter's plastic preschool plate and thought of her faraway... but not for long. She's coming home next week, and my son the week after. I'm anxious/excited/thrilled for the holidays to begin; I'm ready to stop working, to cook for my kids again (I'll make latkes, promise), to complain ad naseum that I have no time to do anything. I really can't wait.

Regarding a previous post about seasons, or lack thereof: Mea culpa. I was wrong!

We do have seasons. It's cold as heck in L.A. (abnormally wet, i.e. it's raining like crazy). We even had our first snowfall a few days ago, covering the tops of the San Gabriel Mts (here overlooking Highland Park) and beyond, in Big Bear.

                                 But nothing like Rhode Island!

   And for more proof: trees have lost their leaves.


From my meditation bench in Oct.                       



From my meditation bench in Dec.

Still, we have freaky flowers like these blooming: don't they know it's winter?

                                           

Let the Holidays begin!