Life on this planet: Chanukah and The Next Step To Mexico

A very busy week ahead!!! This week Chanukah begins, the Jewish festival of light, often given as "Hannukah" but the correct spelling is "Chanukah". This year Chanukah begins sundown this Tuesday evening, this being the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. The festival runs for 8 days over the Sagittarius New Moon period until the 2nd day of Tevet.

Chanukah was the first Jewish festival my wife and I kept back in 2004, and I've kept the festival every year since, even through the horrific years of dealing with my wife's sickness and her full time care. Last year being the exception, Chanukah fell during my Bali trip, the airline prohibiting matches from being taken on board the aircraft hence impacting on the viability of lighting the candles while in Bali, and being in such a foreign country, I chose to immerse myself in the culture of that country.

This year however I will be back to keeping Chanukah. This will be my first celebration of Chanukah in my new abode. The central tradition being the lighting of the candles, lighting one candle on the first day, increasing by one each day the candles to be lit, until we reach all eight candles on the final day. The candles are lit outside the front door especially in Israel, or at the least lit in front of a window most visible to the public. The idea is to proclaim to the world the message of Chanukah.

So in my abode on the 4th level I have a couple of options. I could either light the candles outside on my balcony or by one of my two windows to the balcony. There are no other windows in my apartment. The first option won't be viable due to the wind factor and the fact I have no wind shield for my candles. So either of the windows options it will be. My plants are in the way of the bedroom window blocking the view. So the kitchen window actually part of the glass sliding doors to the balcony will be the location of choice for my candles. The kitchen bench stretches out to infront of the fixed glass part of the sliding door. There are no plants in front. So at least the birds will be witness to this event!!!

Chanukah commemorates the time of the Maccabean revolution when the Jews took back control of the Temple from the Greek rulers who were occupying Israel in the 2nd century BCE. It turned out I was in fact there, where I spent one of my other lifetimes, hence my connection with all that is Jewish. This is why Chanukah was the first holiday I kept as part of my 2004 Hebrew awakening, and is the holiday I am most closely connected with. After winning control of the Temple and cleaning it up, the Cohen (Priest - me during this other lifetime) needed to rededicate the Temple by means of lighting of the Menorah. However no olive oil could be found except for a single bottle which would last for only one day. It would take eight days to prepare a new batch of oil. So you can see the dilemna. The Menorah lights needed to be kept alight 24/7, there is only one day's supply of oil available so seemed destined to run out of oil seven days before a new batch would be ready.

So what do we do? We do what Jews in the past have done. Step out in faith and do the thing anyway!!! We decided to go ahead and light the Menorah anyway!!! This we did on Kislev 25. It turned out the Menorah remain alight for the full eight days on just one day's supply of oil!! How did this happen?? Some transmutation of the oil? Multidimensional manipulation of time and space?? Whatever, it is counted as a miracle!! And so this is why we have been celebrating Chanukah ever since. The word Chanukah means Dedication, referring to the rededication of the Temple. We celebrate Chanukah to commemorate the miracle of the Menorah remaining lit for the full eight days on one day's supply of oil while we were busy preparing the new batch of oil.

Another much appreciated tradition of Chanukah is the eating of donuts. We eat foods cooked in oil referring to the miracle of the oil for the Menorah. Donuts are usually the food of choice for this. Another common treat for Chanukah are the Latkes, basically the Jewish version of Hash Browns.

It is no coincidence that bookings for my Mexico trip in March 2018. My December bonus payment is set to come with my payday this week, and once transferred to the appropriate account set aside for Mexico, I will be able to complete my bookings. Up until now I booked my hotel in Cancun for two nights after I arrive from my very long trip from very isolated Perth. Then the flights from Cancun to Villahermosa via Mexico City has been booked. Then my five nights in Palenque, a two-hour bus trip from Villahermosa has been booked. And that is about as far as I have gotten..... So once I get my bonus payment this week, I will then be able to book the flight from Villahermosa to Merida, and then my hotel in Merida for the next six nights, before heading back to Cancun...... and back to very isolated Perth.

Last week I gotten my $100 prepaid Visa card from the points I have earned over all these months scanning my groceries. Such things really do pay off!! I didn't think I'd have enough points for a $100 card considering I had been in this program for only a few months. So not bad for what has long since been my almost effortless habit - scanning the barcodes of my groceries using my phone as soon as I bring them home. Just what I will use my $100 on will depend on how much I will get with my December bonus, and how much I end up spending on my Merida bookings.

So the next step is to find out how much I be getting in my December bonus payment, or more specifically, how much of it will be remaining after the rats aka the ATO have done its work on it. Australia's very high taxes are even higher for lump sum payments, so basically it will be what meagre amount I will have remaining after the ATO rats have made a meal of it. My pay advice are normally available online the Monday prior to payday, so tomorrow I will find out what I will be getting in my bonus payment.

Then by the weekend I should be able to make the rest of my bookings, then will see how much I will have remaining. That will go towards my Passport renewal which I will have to do first thing into the New Year. I realise in January it will be only two months before my trip. According to the Passports website it takes about three weeks to get a new Passport, but being of Virgoan energies, I don't like to leave it to the last minute. Being a Passport renewal saves me the bother of having to supply the barrow load of ID documents and selling my soul for dissection!! I will only need to get the photographs which is done at the Post Office, which is why I be waiting until AFTER Xmas. The Post Offices will be utter chaos during the Xmas rush with queues out the door and the last thing on anyone's mind would be Passport photos. So will wait until the New Year when things are quieter before obtaining the photos. Then front up at the Post Office with photos, current near-to-expired Passport, and $277. So what ever is left after booking the rest of my trip will probably be devoted to paying for my Passport renewal, the fee is the same regardless of whether it is a new application or a renewal. I'd thought it be cheaper to renew, but then we ARE talking about GOVERNMENT!!!!!

Now some significant progress in another of my money saving projects - clearing out my storage unit legacy of my bower bird wife. All of the small items are now out, so last week began the task of moving out the larger items via my trailer whose indicator lights are now working. So it will take me to the end of the year to move out the larger items, being mainly storage furniture such as cupboards and drawers. Then I decide which ones to keep for my abode and which ones to give away.

And I've finally brought back my wife's ashes which had been kept in storage for security reasons, did not feel secure in my old abode. But now being in a gated complex, security is no longer a concern. So am currently making up something of a shrine for my wife with her dolls and other craft items, etc, and her ashes.

Then to deal with the remaining items...... a queen size bed and mattress, way too damaged legacy of my wife's health problems. Am currently breaking them down so to better fit into my trailer, then will have to be disposed of. There's a washing machine and dryer, have no use for either so they will be donated or given away. And a 50 inch TV, way too big for my abode, also to be given away. There's a couple of old metal frames that used to be tables, they be delivered for scrap metal recycling. Last but not least, an antique glass cabinet which mother gave to us, used to be own by the grand parents, had been kept in storage for security reasons, but being now in a gated complex, security is no longer a concern.

So it may be February before I finally get the storage unit cleared out, but hopefully before my Mexico trip anyway. Another chapter in my life closed.

Now my quirky and often dark sense of humour.....

This is my thought on Xmas.....