Rant #2,779: Miracles

How was your Thanksgiving?

Mine was fine.

My wife cooked up a storm, we had family over, and although it was a small gathering, everyone really had a great Turkey Day.

After since hearing other people talk about their Thanksgiving experience, it seemed that the general consensus was that although people celebrated the holiday as best they could in 2020, we were still in sort of a panic mode last year, even when celebrating.

This year, even though the panic mode still kind of exists, people were in more of a relaxed mode, and we ate up a storm.

I know that I did!

Black Friday means Record Store Day for me, and I woke up early to wait on line at my local record store to feast on the goodies there.

No turkey, but plenty of vinyl.

And I got what I wanted—I was number two on the line—and it was fun as it always is.

Then there was a break in the festivities on Saturday; a day that I listened to some of my purchases, and then came Sunday, or Sunday evening to be precise about it.

As the sun set, Jews around the world celebrated the first night of Hanukkah, and I celebrated with my family this festive holiday.

It had been a little bit of a tough day.

My mom wanted to visit my father’s grave on Sunday, two days before what would have been his 90th birthday.

It was a dreary day here, with the first wisp of winter with a few snow flurries, but during the day, we trudged on to the cemetery, met my sister and her husband there, and we did what we did there.

But the evening was Hanukkah, and I do believe that rather than cry more tears, my father would have wanted us to have fun, and that is what we did.

I went out to get food for the evening, something that I do every weekend, and I went to the local fast food places as well as one popular venue which I won’t name, and for obvious reasons …

Read on.

I went to this one place, and while it wasn’t too busy, there were people waiting to order their food.

There were only three people manning the store, and even though it wasn’t super busy, they had their hands full.

As I got up to the counter to make my order, I saw that two customers in front of me, the store’s manager was giving out extra food to that patron, saying, “We have too much of this, and I have no refrigerator room to keep everything, so everyone gets something extra.”

So I made my order, proceeded to the checkout, and lo and behold, I got extra food—

Four pies, and not small ones, either.

Either I didn’t hear right or the manager gave me what was next up in her line of pies, but I thought she said “chicken pot pies,” but what I received from her was two apple pies and two pumpkin pies—

For free!

So, with my order and my Hanukkah food gifts in tow—I mean, it was already sundown when I left the venue—I drove home, triumphantly with extra food to give out to my family.

I plan on bringing at least some of my “pie-age” to my sister’s house when we celebrate Hanukkah there this coming Sunday.

All of that dovetailed into a lovely fast food dinner, and then to the lighting of the menorah, and this exchanging of gifts.

With all of that, the miracle of Hanukkah was in place last night.

Where once, one day of oil somehow stretched to eight days of light way back when, last night one order of food somehow stretched out to four pies that I did not know that I was getting when I entered the store.

Maybe this was a modern retelling of the Hanukkah story, maybe not, but it made for some fun comparisons, and conversations, as I ate my hamburger and fries and my family ate whatever I got them for the first-night Hanukkah dinner.

As you can see, miracles do happen, and they happen when you least expect them to happen.

Sure, this was something of a minor miracle, but I will take them when I can get them.

I am taking the day off tomorrow. I will tell you why when I return on Wednesday. It will be worth the wait!

Rant #2,778: The Turkey

Happy pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday.
 
Are you ready for Thanksgiving?
 
Do you have your turkey all ready to go?
 
Do you have all of your side dishes ready to be served?
 
Do you have your masks, your proof of “vaccination,” lest your friends and loved ones won’t let you into their homes without them?
 
Those are among the questions one has to ask themselves this year as we get ready for the big holiday.
 
And this year, once again, we have a bit of a pleasant quandary, because for Jews in our country, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall just about the same time this year, with the Jewish “Festival of Lights” dawning at sunset on Sunday, November 28, just three days after Turkeyfest.
 
At least it isn’t on the same exact day as it has been a few times in the past, when Jews spun dreidels as they ate their turkey.
 
And in my house, when my father was alive, his birthday was also smack dab in the middle of all of that-on November 30—so it was real crazy time in my house.
 
Since the two holidays have some breathing room between them this year, it won’t be as crazy, but here is an edited Rant #1,073, November 29, 2013, to illustrate such a conflict:
 
“This year, for the first time in recent memory, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same day on the calendar.
 
Actually, Thanksgiving and the first full day of Hanukkah fall on the same day this year.
 
Jewish holidays begin at sundown, so Hanukkah, actually, starts the night before Thanksgiving.
 
Now, I know that a large majority of the populace is not Jewish, so this really is of little or no concern to them.
 
But I am Jewish, so it is a major concern to me.
 
How do we light up the bird and the menorah at the same time?
 
When I think about it, all this might actually play into our hands as something better than we thought it would be.
 
We can now celebrate everything at once, not one thing at a time, so it might be beneficial to us.
 
But when you celebrate everything at once, it kind of dilutes each one, so maybe it isn't as beneficial as I thought it was.
 
The reason for the convergence of the two holidays this year?
 
It has to do with the Jewish calendar, which is very much unlike the calendar that we use.
 
The Jewish calendar has leap months--not days--and that is why Jewish holidays are never on the same day year to year, or at least one of the reasons. There are other reasons, but I won't go into them here.
 
Suffice it to say, the Jewish calendar is a pretty wild one year to year.”
 
So this year isn’t quite as bad as that year was, with one holiday literally jockeying for position with the other, but having them spaced out by three days is crazy enough.
 
Thanksgiving is really the best holiday of the year for me, a family-oriented holiday without gifts—you just bring yourself to whatever gathering you are going to.
 
Yes, the pandemic has dampened the spirit quite a bit, in particular with the so-called experts telling us that we must continue to be wary of others during the most social of our holidays.
 
I saw one report where a doctor will be checking people at his own door for their shot cards, and even if they are family, he will turn them away from his door if they don’t bring the cards with them when they come for Thanksgiving dinner.
 
This, of course, is completely crazy—don’t you know the status of the people that you are inviting, especially family members—and he even suggested that if they don’t bring their cards, he will give them a “care package” of food to take home.
 
Yes, my friends, this is a doctor saying this, a supposed learned man who has fallen into the abyss of paranoia that the pandemic has "drilled" into some people ... or in place of "drilled," maybe I will use the word “injected,” because it goes so well with the words of the day like “vaccination,” "inoculation” and “shots.”
 
Yes, people like this are completely, totally, verifiably crazy.
 
Don't be like this moron. Enjoy your holiday with family and friends, and I am sure that everyone has taken the proper “precautions” to make sure that it is a joyous holiday.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Happy Hanukkah!
 
Happy Happy!
 
I will next be at this perch on Monday—after Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed, and right in the middle of Hanukkah.
 
So have a great holiday, shop ‘til you drop on Black Friday, and have a great start to Hanukkah—
 
And have a great weekend. I will speak to you again bright and early on Monday morning.
 
Gobble Gobble!