Chanukah sped by as usual, only faster this year!  You blink, and it’s over.  Short but sweet.  Was it only a week ago that my son & co. were here?  The miracle of Chanukah: the candy lasted for eight + days, not one!  Here is the grand finale (plus Misu overseeing the ‘hood).

It almost reached 60º today, so we took the opportunity to walk around Charleston Falls on a not frigid day.  The old trees stood stark and imposing without all the frilly greenery, and the falls were trickling harder.

On the way home, we checked out a Turkish/Russian grocery near us, and came out with lots of bulk spices, Turkish coffee, and other useful, hard-to-find food items.  (I did not succumb to their aisles of Turkish Delight.)  It’s good to see growing immigrant micro-communities popping up all around us, including Central Asians, Koreans and Southeast Asians, Mexicans, Indians, Middle Easterners, and others.

Here are E’s latest, greatest Challot, speaking of Eastern Europe.

Yesterday we hung out at the Emporium/Underdog Café in YS (for some reason the Tavern was closed again–going through some kind of transition, we think).  It was quiet there, and a guy was playing the piano in the background.  We got some good coffee and a sandwich, looked at books, and grabbed a Tröeg’s stout pack.  The retired pandemic life.

At least the Village of YS has strict COVID restrictions and precautions for all its businesses, being more progressive than surrounding towns, so we feel safer spending time there.

We’re already at the Chanukah halfway point.  It always seems to speed by.