Christmakkah in SoCal

As my roomies and I began discussing the impending necessity of dismantling our Christmas decorations, I suddenly realized how quickly the holidays flew by this year, and how untraditional my own Christmas is in general. I think the holidays take on a different meaning for me than most since 1) I live in southern California where we get exited by hail because snow isn't even part of our vocabulary (sometimes I think sunshine just isn't as conducive to holiday cheer as a good snowstorm), and 2) I was raised Jewish.

Let me qualify that last statement. When I say I was raised Jewish, I mostly mean we had a menorah instead of a Christmas tree once a year. And thats about it. We tried going to temple for a year or two, but I was deathly afraid of the old woman who tried to teach me Hebrew in Sunday school and I guess my parents weren't sold either, so we peaced out. Yet we still continued to light the candles and sing the only prayer I ever learned every Hanukkah. Now that I've been living on my own for a few years, my traditions have slowly shifted. First it was adoption of the "Hanukkah bush". Later, I gave in and started hanging Christmas decorations and buying Christmas gift wrap to be consistent with my non-Jewish roommates and because I personally think there is a severe lack of creativity when it comes to stylish Hanukkah wrapping paper. This year our apartment was quite festive. While we didn't have space for a full size tree, we made up for it with multiple mini trees, though the cats have knocked off most of the ornaments and batted them under the couches by now. I also hung ornaments from the fake palm tree in our living room. Nothing says Christmas in LA like an adorned palm tree. Jackie decorated stockings for our family (cats included) and appropriately decked mine out with a Jewish star.

On the home front, Chanukkah and its endless spelling permutations has faded as well. Maybe its because my parents, being empty nesters now aren't really concerned with continuity, I'm not really sure. But since my sister and I have gone, they too have suddenly gone over to the green and red side, leaving behind gelt and latkes for a large pine tree.

I'm not complaining though. In my mind, the holidays are just about being with the people you love, enjoying the season, and of course giving/getting gifts. How you go about that doesn't really make a difference, as long as the reason behind it is the same. I love the holidays no matter how I celebrate it. I love how Starbucks uses those festive red coffee cups and adds peppermint to everything, and how you can't escape Christmas music no matter how hard you try, and how even in SoCal, you can sometimes walk outside in the morning and see your breath. This is what I look forward to every year and am sad to see disappear so quickly. Goodbye merry wreath on our door. See you next year.