Sukkot

A few weekends ago, we attended our wonderful neighbor's Sukkot celebration.   This is a Jewish festival that is held once a year during harvest time, when they set up their Sukka as a symbol of the temporary homes or tents that the Israelites built while they were journeying in the wilderness for 40 years. 




Our neighbor's Sukka in their back yard

 They eat meals in their Sukka during Sukkot, and Karen said that some people even sleep in there.  The Sukka is decorated with a beautiful cloth inscribed with the tribes of Israel, as well as fruits and nuts hanging from the ceiling, and pictures of the family all around. 




A view from inside (minus the twig roof that had already been taken down)


Karen and Kenny have had an open house both years that we have been here for Sukkot, and it has been so much fun to get together with them and their family!  (Not to mention that Karen is one of the best cooks I have ever met, a fact John appreciates very much!)

Another view from their backyard

Their yard is really as magical as it looks.  Heavenly.  When we first moved here, I would look out the window in my upstairs hallway down into their yard.  There was a little trail leading from our back gate, into their yard, that just got lost in the foliage once you entered.  I thought it was so lovely, and decided that when things settled down a bit, I would go meet the people that belonged to it.  Karen beat me to it.  She heard us playing in the backyard one day (not hard to do, actually, it would be hard to miss I would say), and came over with her kids.  Since then she has become a dear friend, and has been a saving grace to me in more ways than she will probably ever know.