Rain and Sukkot.

I have officially been inside my first Jewish sukkot. This, my friends, is big news. Ever since I moved to NY and saw them erected each September/October, I have wanted to go in one. They are like everywhere here. Every other yard, or every yard sometimes, has one. I even saw some in the common area of the next door apartment complex. Sukkots entirely depict the Fall season for Forest Hills, NY with it's predominately Jewish population. But how, I asked myself, would I ever get to go inside a Sukkot? I'm not Jewish. I'm a white girl...from Georgia. What do I do? Knock on the door and ask to enter while they sing their Hebrew songs and eat dinner? I think not. But alas, as fate would have it, with this being my last Fall in New York for a bit, I find it fitting that I got to enter my first Sukkot :).

I shall tell you the story in starting at the VERY beginning :).

It all started last night when it stormed something fierce. This made my backyard a puddle; therefore, Jirem did his usual routine for when the backyard is puddly or it's raining. He whined and jumped at the back door, but everytime I opened it, he just sat there and stared out the door and whimpered. I'd go out and try to coax him out; he wouldn't. I'd try to push him out; he'd fight me. Needless to say, he didn't pee all morning. He didn't pee all night either. I kept trying to take him out but nothing worked. So this afternoon as I was leaving for work I noticed that he'd gone on his puppy pad, but 'gone' is an understatement. This dog has released the entire Atlantic Ocean on his 1.5 by 2 feet pad. THUS, it kinda 'leaked.' So I rolled up my jacket sleeves and went to cleaning up HIS mess right as I was trying to run out the door. I didn't have much time b/c I had to go to the store to get the food for tonight, so I cleaned furiously. I opened the back door again b/c he was jumping at it and I needed to put the soiled paper out there for now till I had time to take out the trash and put it in it. Jirem, as usual, sat staring at the backyard. I put the paper out and shut the door...washed my hands, picked up my things, and ran out.

Fast Forward many hours...because I went to work....had a nice day, and afterward figured I'd go to Michael's to look at some things for the wedding. Fast Forward another hour or so Again.....I arrive home.

SO Jirem meets me at the door all happy. I unload my arms filled with things onto the table and proceed to ask him if he wants to go out in my hyper Jirem talk voice. He starts to run to the backdoor, and I follow him. BUT when we get to the back door, he doesn't jump at it. Instead, he simply nudges it with his nose and it opens. He takes off out the door (the puddle had dried up) and I realize, OMG....MY DOOR WAS NOT LOCKED OR SHUT WELL ALL DAY. IT WAS JUST 'PUSHED TO.' ;AKDSJFLAJSDFLKSDF

So I immediately start looking for Abraham. I see Gracie immediately. She's a fraidy cat, but Abraham is Mr. Explorer. I look in his usual hiding spots and can't find him. (perhaps you see where this is going). That's when I decide that he MUST be outside, over the fence, at the neighbors again. This is not the first time Abraham has escaped, and it's not the first time he's escaped at night. So I grabbed my flashlight (which I brought back from Georgia last April JUST BECAUSE I knew I'd need it if my cat escaped at night again....perhaps you remember the stories from his previous night time escapades... or when I chased a cat at night I 'THOUGHT' was him and wasn't really him. yeah). So I go out and shine the light in his usual over the fence spot. And there....in the dark, is my black cat, crying. I call to him; he tries to jump the fence, but can't. So I go in and get my stool, come back out; place the stool over the fence; and proceed to climb over. This is when I realize my jeans are entirely too tight, and I mustn't wear them again. I also start praying that God will help me and also keep my boots clean since I can't really see what I'm doing. I make it over the fence, no small feat, with my flashlight, and then Abraham runs! He runs from me! He's afraid of the light. I shine it on my face to show him it's me. That doesn't work. What follows is 20 minutes of me running around my neighbors backyard chasing my cat who is running in circles under tables and around the....SUKKOT! My cat is much smarter and faster than me. He also makes less noise. I was making so much noise that I was terrified the neighbors were going to come out and try to shoot me. I was prepared to immediately yell IM THE NEIGHBOR! MY CAT JUMPED OVER THE FENCE! Why didn't I just go knock on her door you ask? I did that before, and let's just say I stood just as much chance of getting shot. This neighbor gives me mean looks and hates me (probably b/c I go in her backyard to get my cat all the time). Anyway, I continued chasing Abraham and at one point, IT LOOKED LIKE HE WENT INTO THE SUKKOT! I started thinking of the symbolism of how God would answer my prayer to help me catch my cat by letting my cat run into the tent that symbolizes when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. I liked the symbolism in that and hoped it would happen. It didn't happen, but I thought it did, so I went in my first Sukkot. It was pretty neat, but I couldn't enjoy it b/c I still didn't have my cat.

So, I kept running and chasing and finally Abraham climbed up the steps to the house above my neighbors house. That is when I caught him and scolded him in a whisper for being such a bad boy. Then I went back over and tossed him over the fence to my house where Jirem proceeded to chase him into the backdoor and inside. I then tossed my stool over the fence, not thinking, and proceeded to drop my flashlight. So I'm stuck on the opposite side looking around in the dark for my flashlight which is currently off. (i had to turn it off to catch the cat b/c he was terrified of the light). I dig my hands around in dirt and grossness until I finally find it. Then I use all my Jillian Michael's strength to hoist myself over the tall fence even tho I was now devoid of my stool to help me b/c I'd tossed it over already. Finally I got back on my side and audibly thanked God. I came inside, looked at my boots, saw they were fine, and thanked God again. I do, however, have some scrapes on my arms and legs from the fence. I guess that's the price you pay to get to go into a sukkot.

So there you have it...the key to getting to go into a sukkot if you are a white girl from Georgia is quite simple really.
1. Move to New York.
2. Live in Forest Hills, next to Jewish people (the latter part of this step is nearly inevitable).
3. Buy a cat, preferably one that likes to roam.
4. Buy a dog, preferably one that won't pee outside if it rains.
5. Wait till it rains in late September/early October.
6. In a rush, clean up your dogs pee right before you leave work and toss it out the back door in a crumbled puppy pad, pee mess.
7. Be in a hurry and don't shut the back door well thus allowing your cat a chance to escape while you are at work.
8. Hunt him at night in the dark when you return home.
9. Jump the fence and look inside the sukkot next door.
10. Find him and throw him over a fence and think about how you are proud that you got to go in a sukkot.
11. BUT DON'T throw the stool over the fence before you climb back over because doing so makes the return trip over the fence part is hard, hurtful, and one that leaves lots of scratches.
12. If you do this while wearing nice boots, pray to God that he protect them :).


GOOD NIGHT!