Our First Sukkah

So here it is: our first Sukkah.


Beautiful, ain't it? These pictures were taken before the adult table was put in, but otherwise it looks pretty much like this even as I type.

Our house has a deck that was already constructed as a Sukkah. Our rabbi even said the railing around it qualified as Kosher walls, but we wanted big walls anyway.

U. bought and installed tarps.

I chopped and hauled bamboo from a trench behind our house.

ND did sponge painting with some sponges I cut in the shape of lulav and etrog. We also put leaves between pieces of clear contact paper. Here she is showing it off with our neighbor:

I absolutely love that with this holiday we each got to do something we really do best. I don't think there's another holiday that deal with in quite this way.


I really wanted to sleep outside if for no other reason than to show it could be done. After all, the weather was gorgeous the first few nights.

However:
1. ND and I still sleep together and I, while I'm used to camping with her, I'm not used to being outside of a tent and outdoors with her and with no one. I didn't know if it would be safe to leave her while I go in to use the bathroom or what-have-you. (When we camp, our friend is in the tent with us so it's safer. And no, U. is never going to sleep outside!

2. I'm still fighting a little imperfect health. I've come to the conclusion that I'm really supposed to be treating my body with more respect, so I felt that giving up the chance to be outdoors was one expression of this.

3. On the very first night we left our table for a moment to go Sukkah hop at our neighbor's house. I popped back to make sure our Yom Tov candles were safe just in time to find a raccoon on the table eating our challah!!!

I'm a huge animal lover, but not of raccoons eating my challah. Thankfully we'd put the rest of the food away.

We sat down to bentsch and all of a sudden ND stared at the wall of the sukkah. I couldn't see why until a minute later it poked its head back in. I ran after it, shouting to scare it away, but scared poor ND much more. We bentsched fast and went inside.

So it goes. Maybe next year we'll figure out a better way to keep the critters out.