'Tis the Season

The Holiday Season is finally here!  I live for the holidays.  I am actually one of the few Chicagoans who love the winter.  Not even for the sledding and the snow (which I could do without).  But besides sweaters, wool socks, and hot tea, my favorite part of winter is the holiday spirit.  I know what you’re probably thinking: “But Emma, you’re Jewish!”  Yeah? So what!  There’s something magical about the scent of warm spices and decorative lights (only when done tastefully, though, so don’t get crazy, people).  I took a trip to Christmas Town with my friends this weekend.  It’s a town that just goes buck wild for Christmas, and the whole downtown area sells Christmas stuff and decorates for the holiday.  The best part is the candy shop where you can watch them making fresh candy canes.  And then eat the fresh candy canes.  Yummmm. 

I also have a mini-obsession with Christmas trees.  They’re just so beautiful and happy.  I mean, really, how can you not be happy when in the presence of a Christmas tree?  So much festivity, so much tradition.  It’s great.  My mom asked me the other day if I have Christmas envy and I responded, “No, just Christmas tree envy.”  So naturally I asked my dad if we could keep a holiday tree in the house.  He denied my request, so I downscaled to just a small one in my room.  I offered to call it a Chanukah bush if he wanted, but he pointed out that there is no bush in Chanukah.  But I was relentless.  What did I do last year? Shoved one in my locker at school.  Yes it was a pain, and yes, I lost time working around it to get my books, but it was so worth the struggle. 

I should probably talk about my own holiday a bit, though.  I really and truly love Chanukah.  And everyone always says that it is just for the presents, but I swear it’s not.  Chanukah is first and foremost a festival of lights.  A celebration of miracles.  An embellished holiday that is loosely related to a true historic event.  But that is neither here nor there.  Who really cares if Chanukah was promoted to get kids more involved in the temple?  I certainly don’t.  Chanukah is about hope, optimism, family, and intense games of dreidel.  It’s been a few years since I’ve played, so I’m probably a bit rusty, but trust me I used to clean up.  Sure, it’s kind of a game of luck, but I think I was still pretty good.

But the reason that I really love Chanukah is that for eight days, you have that one thing to look forward to each night.  That time when everyone gathers around the menorah and says the prayers and lights the candles.  It used to be more stressful when Jake and I had to fight over who got to light the Noah’s Ark menorah (awesome, right?).  Now that we’ve updated to a more “sophisticated” menorah, the only thing I have to worry about are the candles themselves.  I’m kind of afraid of fire.  I really like being around fires (cozy fireplace fires, bonfires, campfires, etc.) but I’m terrified when it comes to using lighters and holding burning candles.  I refuse to use the lighter to light the first candle. I tentatively light the others, but make someone else put the candle back in its place so that I can avoid the hot wax.

So this is where the rubber meets the road.  I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about the posts, so now it’s time to really show your appreciation.  It’s the holiday season, people, and I know that you’re all rushing around to get your holiday gifts. Whether those gifts be late Chanukah gifts, Christmas gifts, heck, even Kwanza gifts, you know what to get.  A tote bag!  The perfect present to show someone that you care. 

-Emma