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We spent this last yontif with H's family (2 sisters, 1 brother-in-law, 3 niece/nephews, and a cousin) in the Boston area. I had some anxiety about it beforehand, as Sukkot has never been a family holiday for me in the past- more a "get to know the other people who are actually still in town and not with their families either" holiday. So this was a different sort of experience for me. Also, Sukkot, due to the tendency for crowded sukkahs, weather, exhaustion from the previous 2 holidays, etc, tends to be a higher-stress holiday for me anyways, and I . often do better if I take at least one meal "off" from being with lots of other people- which one can't really do so well when visiting. Despite all of this, it turned out to be a really lovely holiday. So- some anecdotes.
1. We got a phone call from H's older sister while we were on the bus up, saying that they'd just decided to have do their son's upsherin/halakeh that afternoon, and we're invited- sorry it's so last-minute. As we had happened to get to the bus station a few minutes earlier than we planned, we were offered seats on the bus an hour prior to the one we had tickets for, and therefore were going to get to town in time to join them. I'd never been to such an event before, and it was actually quite sweet. The nephew whose haircut it was held up very well, although he seemed quite overwhelmed by the end- first haircut and singing grownups and new kippah and new tzitzit all at once was indeed quite a lot for a kid. But his siblings (both the 5 year old sister who tends to be rather bossy to him, and the 9 month old baby brother, who is, well, a baby) were both very well behaved as well, and it was a very sweet event- if poorly timed in terms of getting ready for yontif.
Therefore afterwards, we spent the hour and a half leading into yontif running around like mad, grocery shopping and helping my other sister-in-law finish important last touches on the sukkah she was going to be using at the house she used to live in (i.e. making sure it wouldn't be blown away by the wind, and providing lighting and well- a decoration, if not decorations plural).
We managed to have 6 out of 7 meals (including seudah shlishit) in the sukkah- we were very lucky in our breaks in the on-and-off rain that went on through the weekend. I was very grateful for the one meal inside, as it was Very wet in the sukkah even if it wasn't Actually raining when we were making kiddush out there, Friday night, and my shoes were wet, and I was generally not wanting to be in the cold. But otherwise, things in the sukkot were quite nice.
The older sister-in-law's sukkah is very sturdy- they have very heavy-duty schach. This is good, as during Seudah Shlishit, a local cat, who had already come to investigate the inside of the sukkah, then climbed up on the second-floor porch, and jumped onto the sukkah roof, and walked around up there for a while before getting off somehow. This was a little anxiety-provoking (for all of us, but especially the kids), but also rather amusing.
Shabbat lunch (hosted by the cousin) was supposed to be in one sukkah (by the Harvard law school, where the cousin studies), but ended up elsewhere- the schach blew off just minutes before we would have started our meal. It was rather dramatic, as the wind blew it up in the air, it floated for a moment, then crashed down. Luckily, the Hillel sukkah had lots of room...
I also got to see several friends, which was lovely. Other blessings of the holiday involved having lots of chances to hold and play with our littlest nephew, who is a total doll (although he has quite the set of lungs when he isn't happy), and hearing his older brother talking up a (rather difficult to understand) storm- he got a bit of late start on talking, but seems to be catching up beautifully, and finding that the silly words to Haydn's Surprise Symphony were very helpful for deciphering the 5 year old niece's music homework from first grade.
1. We got a phone call from H's older sister while we were on the bus up, saying that they'd just decided to have do their son's upsherin/halakeh that afternoon, and we're invited- sorry it's so last-minute. As we had happened to get to the bus station a few minutes earlier than we planned, we were offered seats on the bus an hour prior to the one we had tickets for, and therefore were going to get to town in time to join them. I'd never been to such an event before, and it was actually quite sweet. The nephew whose haircut it was held up very well, although he seemed quite overwhelmed by the end- first haircut and singing grownups and new kippah and new tzitzit all at once was indeed quite a lot for a kid. But his siblings (both the 5 year old sister who tends to be rather bossy to him, and the 9 month old baby brother, who is, well, a baby) were both very well behaved as well, and it was a very sweet event- if poorly timed in terms of getting ready for yontif.
Therefore afterwards, we spent the hour and a half leading into yontif running around like mad, grocery shopping and helping my other sister-in-law finish important last touches on the sukkah she was going to be using at the house she used to live in (i.e. making sure it wouldn't be blown away by the wind, and providing lighting and well- a decoration, if not decorations plural).
We managed to have 6 out of 7 meals (including seudah shlishit) in the sukkah- we were very lucky in our breaks in the on-and-off rain that went on through the weekend. I was very grateful for the one meal inside, as it was Very wet in the sukkah even if it wasn't Actually raining when we were making kiddush out there, Friday night, and my shoes were wet, and I was generally not wanting to be in the cold. But otherwise, things in the sukkot were quite nice.
The older sister-in-law's sukkah is very sturdy- they have very heavy-duty schach. This is good, as during Seudah Shlishit, a local cat, who had already come to investigate the inside of the sukkah, then climbed up on the second-floor porch, and jumped onto the sukkah roof, and walked around up there for a while before getting off somehow. This was a little anxiety-provoking (for all of us, but especially the kids), but also rather amusing.
Shabbat lunch (hosted by the cousin) was supposed to be in one sukkah (by the Harvard law school, where the cousin studies), but ended up elsewhere- the schach blew off just minutes before we would have started our meal. It was rather dramatic, as the wind blew it up in the air, it floated for a moment, then crashed down. Luckily, the Hillel sukkah had lots of room...
I also got to see several friends, which was lovely. Other blessings of the holiday involved having lots of chances to hold and play with our littlest nephew, who is a total doll (although he has quite the set of lungs when he isn't happy), and hearing his older brother talking up a (rather difficult to understand) storm- he got a bit of late start on talking, but seems to be catching up beautifully, and finding that the silly words to Haydn's Surprise Symphony were very helpful for deciphering the 5 year old niece's music homework from first grade.