Hanukkah started last night at sundown and ends on December 22, so don’t forget to light your menorah and remember to honor the Bondi and Brown victims.
May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all of us.
This photo was taken from the top of my street where I’m able to see the setting sun AND a hint of the Pacific ocean. It’s one of my favorite spots.
🕎 🎄🎅🏻 🌺
I don’t know what everyone else will be doing on this day that really doesn’t seem to celebrate anything but a toxic and heartless dominance over indigenous peoples, but in my little world, except for family, there isn’t a whole lot to be grateful for. This is a Thanksgiving mainly of fear for the future, an unsettling feeling that we don’t know when the other shoe will drop and this country will erupt in absolute and total chaos.
But that’s just me…
“Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.” Joy Harjo
While we’re in the midst of preparations to enjoy a feast with friends and family tomorrow, I hope we don’t forget to honor, and with gratitude, recognize the Indigenous Peoples.
For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning and protest because it commemorates the arrival of settlers and the oppression and genocide that followed.
“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.” Chief Seattle
“When you know who you are when your mission is clear, and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.” – Chief Seattle, Suquamish/Duwamish (1786-1866)
Chief Seattle (more correctly known as Seathl) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, but I bet he regretted it as soon as he realized what it really meant to his people.
Photo of people and tents and quote credit to Chief Seattle and Native Red Cloud Maȟpíya Lúta~Hińhan Wakangli. Photo credit of Chief Seattle from Wiki
Especially now that days are longer and it our brief rainy season is almost over, this looks like a really fun and educational craft to do with the Angels– in the garden, definitely NOT indoors.
The photo isn’t mine, but this is what I hope ours will look like. I’ll definitely use glitter glue.
A while back I got some borax for another craft that we never tried (snowflakes with pipe cleaners), but this project definitely looks like something everyone would enjoy.
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon borax powder
1 to 2 tablespoons clear Elmer’s glue (glitter glue works too!)
INSTRUCTIONS…
Step 1: Make the borax solution
Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a bowl.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of borax powder until it is completely dissolved.
Step 2: Add the Glue
Slowly pour in 1 to 2 tablespoons of glue, depending on how big you want your bouncy ball.
If using glitter glue or colored glue, this is where the fun begins!
Step 3: Form the Ball
As soon as the glue touches the borax solution, it will start to solidify.
Use your hands to squeeze and shape the mixture into a ball.
If the ball feels too sticky, dip it back into the borax solution for a few seconds, then continue shaping it.
Step 4: Let It Set
Once the ball is smooth and holds its shape, set it aside to dry for a few hours.
As it dries, it will become even bouncier and more solid.
Experiment with different types of glue – Clear glue gives a translucent ball, while glitter glue adds sparkle.
Don’t overwork the mixture – Knead it just enough to form a ball, but too much handling can make it less bouncy.
Store properly – Keep your bouncy ball in a sealed plastic bag to prevent it from drying out.
The educational science experiment part of this project…
The glue contains polyvinyl acetate (PVA), a liquid polymer. When mixed with borax, the PVA chains link together, forming a rubbery texture. This cross-linked structure is what makes the ball firm yet flexible, giving it the ability to bounce.
The days between Christmas and the new year are suspended in amber; a week of feeling in limbo — at least for me.
The frenzy leading up to Christmas that started at Halloween and progressed to Thanksgiving and finally to December 25 is a mess of cooking and baking and cleaning — and now it’s over, along with the twenty-four hour Christmas music on the radio.
It’s so so quiet outside, like a day during the pandemic.
It’s a great time to shop the after holiday sales, but I have enough wrapping paper and Christmas cards and decorations to last until the next century, so I’m not all that excited about the 75% off prices…although I DO love a bargain.
But — we’re not quite done because the end of the year is only a few days away and that occasion is supposed to be memorialized by some sort of celebration, whether you choose to go to a ball or a party or stay home by the fire with a glass of champagne and try to stay awake until midnight.
And then it’s over — but not until the idiots shoot guns in the air and set off more fireworks that scare all the animals.
I’m not sure I’d call this feeling a full fledged depression, but there’s a term that describes it pretty well… Post Holiday Blues. It sounds like it should be the title of a song, right? PHB refers to the letdown we might feel after all the excitement and anticipation leading up to the holidays.
I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for and enjoy this week in limbo, waiting for 2025.
Not a lot, except we’ve always celebrated BOTH holidays with highly decorated trees and menorahs and it’s going to be an extra festive week since the first night of Hanukkah starts at sundown on Christmas Day.
The reason why Hanukkah is so late this year is because it follows the Hebrew calendar which is based on the lunar cycle, different from the solar-based Gregorian calendar.
These two holidays converge an average of five times a century, Since 1900, the first night of Hanukkah has fallen on December 25 five times: 1910, 1921, 1959, 2005, and now 2024.
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!
Now it’s a perfect time for some Leon Russell trivia…
Record producer Phil Spector spent several sessions recording a collection of songs with his Wrecking Crew for a Christmas album. One of the greatest moments during those sessions was when “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” was recorded by Darlene Love.
Leon Russell was one of three piano players and Darlene said that Leon got into the song so much “he played a like a man possessed; it was almost like a concerto. He played himself right off the bench and onto the floor and kept playing.” Leon was about twenty years old at the time.
At the same recording session, Cher did some background vocals and Sonny Bono was on percussion!
Enjoy these holiday songs from the one and only Master of Space and Time, Leon Russell…
Not your usual Christmas music, but SO VERY Leon. For you Grateful Dead fans (not me), this was recorded with Jerry Garcia at the Armadillo World Headquarters November 1972.
“What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots than reason.”
Mary Oliver
Art curated from Pinterest
Tonight’s the first night of Hanukkah and Hello Kitty reminds us to let our light shine!
Our Jewish Festival of Lights lasts for eight days and nights in honor of a 2,000-year-old miracle in which light won out over darkness.
During Hanukkah 1931, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this photo of the family Hanukkah menorah from the window ledge of the family home looking out on to the building across the road decorated with Nazi flags.
While it’s definitely a time for serious reflection, it’s also all about fun with latkes, gold coins, dreidels, lots of presents, and this iconic song by Adam Sandler:
Last year’s post about Hanukkah has a lot more info about the historical significance https://enchantedseashells.com/2022/12/19/whats-hanukkah-all-about/
Happy New Year! Shana tovah!
Rosh Hashanah is one of Judaism’s holiest days. It’s also a powerful new moon, which enhances the overall spirituality of this holiday.
Meaning “head of the year” or “first of the year,” Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish new year — marks the creation of the world.
It also marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days leading up to Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
As is the custom with all new years, it’s a time to reflect on the past and how we can improve in the future.
This is the time for apples and honey to represent a sweet new year, to be eaten with challah bread and pomegranate seeds.
L’Shanah Tovah Tikateivu
“May you be inscribed [in the Book of Life] for a good year.”
I couldn’t resist a little holiday decor.
Original post: Ma…the space between things
#WordlessWednesday
Happy Father’s Day
Happy Baby Daddy Day
Happy Deadbeat Dad Day
There are only a few blues in my garden — I wish I could successfully grow hydrangeas, but I think the soil would need a major overhaul.
I found these blues on my morning tour (to see if any more sick squirrels came to visit.)
Lily of the Nile, also known as Agapanthus…
against a backdrop of neon-pink Sweetpea Bush.
An artichoke that didn’t get picked in time to eat.
Lots of unpicked artichokes.
The only other blue is the flower from Ajuga, a ground cover.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 