04.16.06
Weekend Update: Happy Passover!
For many years my family has made a habit of celebrating holidays on the most convenient date, without regard for technicalities such as, well, the date on which said holidays actually fall. Christmas is the primary example. As my parents are divorced, we are able to spend Christmas day with only one of them. So we enjoy a full celebration of the holiday with the other parent the day before, or the day after, or the closest weekend day, or the following Saturday…whenever is the most convenient.
Some people think it would feel somehow inauthentic to celebrate a holiday on the wrong day. It doesn’t. Surround yourself with family, food, and all the appropriate accessories and accoutrements and you’ll have no idea that the rest of the world is out elbowing each other in the delicate parts in order to be the first through the door of the Wal-Mart down the road. Nope, it’s all peace on earth from where you’re sitting (near the Christmas ham).
When I first introduced Matt and his family to this concept, they were appalled. Some years back I reasonably suggested that we make a practice of observing Thanksgiving one day late. This would allow us all to travel to St. Louis on Thursday, a far less expensive and hectic day on which to fly. The fact that the grocery store would be open while we were preparing Thanksgiving dinner was an added bonus. This was unthinkable to them at first — how could we possibly celebrate Thanksgiving without knowing, deep in our hearts, that somewhere in New York City there were Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons injuring spectators at that very moment? Well, I convinced them to try it once, and the convenience became so obvious to all involved that we agreed each year henceforth to overlook the blasphemy of eating turkey and cranberry sauce a full day after Santa has paraded down 34th Street.
With that lengthy introduction (are you still here?), you should not be surprised to know that Matt and I hosted Passover’s traditional second Seder on the fourth night of Passover this year. Come on, who can travel mid-week? A Saturday is just so much easier. Matt and his sisters and his sister’s girlfriend and I had a great meal, topped off with a rowdy hunt for the afikomen. (The prize? The last piece of Chanukah gelt. It was cutthroat.)
(A quick note for those who may be confused at this point by the Christmas stuff at the beginning of this post and the Passover stuff here: yes, Matt’s Jewish and I am not. We have learned well in the past nine years that this is an issue of some difficulty for people all over the religious map. However, we have found great pleasure in exuberantly celebrating each other’s holidays, and I hope none of my readers takes offense to that arrangement.)
The quality family time that dominated the weekend limited my knitting progress, though I did manage to find moments for “filler knitting” (that’s code for “socks”) while we played board games after dinner. It is great to knit during games — when you lose, you can airily say, “Oh, I wasn’t giving it my full attention,” and if you win you can insufferably boast, “Ha, I beat all you fools without even giving the game my full attention!” As a side note for all you game-lovers out there, this game, Ticket To Ride, is a little known but incredibly fun game. (Though linked here to Amazon, you can get it cheaper (but still new) on eBay.) It’s relatively simple to learn, has just the right proportions of strategy and luck, and only takes about an hour to play (yes, Risk and Monopoly, I am criticizing you).
As I’ve said in the past, I generally don’t like to post much on non-knitting-related topics, and clearly this post is an egregious violation of that policy. But I’m pretty squarely in the middle of a couple projects right now, without any finished objects expected in the next couple weeks, and I didn’t want my blog to start gathering dust bunnies. To prove, however, that it was not my evil plan over this past year to entice you all here under false pretenses with my dee-lightful knitting commentary, tricking you all into Bloglinesing me, only to abandon all knitting content and force you to read drivel about my scintillating life, here is my progress on Starsky (that’s the finished back and the beginning of the left front). You can also observe the progress of our weeping cherry tree toward full blossom, because I know many of you care deeply about the state of our landscaping. I am pleased with how quickly it is coming along (Starsky, not the tree, though I have no complaints about the speed with which the tree is flowering) and I can’t wait to wear it.
Happy Passover and Easter to all who celebrate (and whenever you celebrate)!
pixie said,
April 16, 2006 at 8:18 pm
My mother is Jewish, my Father Catholic. So I know how it is :) it can be lots of fun!
Mary Ann said,
April 16, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Happy Easter and Passover to you and yours! The Thanksgiving plan is particularly appealing. We once celebrated Christmas on St. Nicolas Day which is many days before Christmas, but the only time all of us could be in the same place at the same time. The grandchildren loved it, but the bigger folks (read here “my children”) thought is was rather lame.
Manda said,
April 16, 2006 at 8:32 pm
THat’s a great story. :) It’s nice to know that you can celebrate each other’s faith. I like your convenient holidays as well! I bet that takes a bit of the stress off everyone. :) Or at least, delays it, right? ;) Happy East-over! :) (Kinda like Festivus.. only different?)
Leah said,
April 16, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Great story. I particularly like to see and read about what is going on in folk’s lives other than knitting. We are not one dimensional after all.
Matt said,
April 16, 2006 at 8:57 pm
It’s a shame that picture was taken so early in the game, because otherwise I’d be able to show-off my kick-ass performance. Let me just say this: you see that long black train? That was just the beginning.
Chris said,
April 16, 2006 at 9:04 pm
Heh, I like the holidays of convenience concept. Simple yet brilliant.
Beverly said,
April 16, 2006 at 9:04 pm
A Jewish friend of mine who married a Christian man used to call the spring celebration “Easter-Over”. Any holiday rocks my world.
I’m digging your Starsky. Really want to make one…
Laura said,
April 16, 2006 at 9:13 pm
I want to know if the expressions on the player’s faces are a display of fine acting or candid shots showing pure amazement and joy.
Convenient holiday scheduling–I’m all for that. I think I’m less into “big family holidays” because I’ve lived so far away from my family for most of my adult life. One of my favorite days to fly is Christmas day. Talk about relaxing!
Starsky looks wonderful and now I want to start my own!
Happy Easter and Passover to you. Save me some macaroons!
Shelagh said,
April 16, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Splendid progress on the tree. And Starsky.
Happy Flea and Tick season!
Amy said,
April 17, 2006 at 7:17 am
Let me correct my mother by saying the lady-folk did not think it was lame. The men-folk did. But the men-folk in my family think all holidays are lame. Such wet blankets!
I agree that you should celebrate when convenient. Holidays are about familys, not dates.
Amy
Theresa said,
April 17, 2006 at 7:57 am
Several thoughts:
1. It’s your blog, you can do whatever you want. Scratch that – it’s your life. And who wouldn’t want twice as many holidays?
2. That looks like real progress on Starsky to me. Lovely.
3. You tried to sneak it in under the radar, but I can see right through that – you are realizing that sock knitting fits seamlessly into every aspect of your life. You are loving it. You are one of us. (Yes, I will repeat this in every post until it comes true. Think of it as unsubtle subliminal messages.)
Paloma said,
April 17, 2006 at 1:06 pm
Divorce forces us to do the same!
I love how you pose your wip’s out with nature.
Isabelle said,
April 17, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Your religious arrangements sounds GREAT to me!!!
I wish my family was able to compromise so nicely when I was young… They were only able to confuse me with denials of what the other side of the family had told me…
I think that you guys’s tolerence and mutual respect is the smart way to go! :)
Thank you for sharing your Passover Seder and the friendly family atmosphere!
BTW, your Starksy blossoms as nicely as your Cherry Tree! LOL
Isabelle :)
Areli said,
April 17, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Your family get togethers sound like a blast. Starsky looks wonderful!
Wonderland Knitter said,
April 17, 2006 at 10:57 pm
The Starsky is awesome!
Our church had a Seder dinner we went to this year. I think there is much both faiths can learn from each other. After all, we have the same Father!
Great post as always. Thanks.
Emily said,
April 18, 2006 at 10:23 am
Any meal that tells a story is tops on my list. Plus twice as many holidays means twice as much candy/desert.
TIcket to Ride is SO on my list. We played Scrabble as our Game of Choice this weekend, after about the third round everyone was a little punchy.
Maura said,
April 18, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Hi!
I usually lurk here and quietly read your blog, but not today… I actually want to comment.
I love the tradition of celbrating the holidays on a different day. In fact, my DH and I have a similar tradition… More-a-(insert holiday/birthday here). It all started when we were both sick one New Years Eve many many moons ago. SO, we went out and celbrated More-a-New Years the next week. We’ve since had both Maura’s Birthday and More-a-Birthday… etc… Works quite well. :) The last time I spent Thanksgiving with my Mom, we got cheaper flights and arrived at 7:00 pm, so we had the formal dinner a day later…
I also have enjoyed the game Ticket to Ride with family. A fun variation we came up with was to select one card from our hands that we didn’t want, and then pass it to the person to our left. A fun variation.
My all time favorite group gathering game is Apples to Apples!
Oh, and your knitting looks great too ;)
-Maura
ps, check out my podcast at http://www.knittunes.net
SarahJanet said,
April 18, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Ticket to Ride is awesome. There is also Ticket to Ride Europe, and apparently a new version out this month. I am becoming a game nerd.
Also, hi. I am relatively new – I was seduced in by your HP socks, which I totally lust for.
che l said,
May 9, 2006 at 8:23 am
this is gorgeous! Very nice work