Holocluck's Henhouse

Holiday season is here.

It's always a pleasant time. Great traditions the Christians claimed as their own while absorbing cultures worldwide for a millennia, all rolled up into one big celebratory season.

More people wear decorative antlers than Santa hats in Second Life.  There's just so much more you can do with them.

For me the aesthetic of a wagon in the woods reached perfection when the snows came to St John Woods last weekend.  I sat in my chair by the fire, sometimes on cushions in the wagon, and took in the glory of nature embracing its new season. Something I could never have in real life.  Not anymore at any rate; climate change has altered NYC's seasons forever.

You may be wondering how an early 20th century Louisiana community gets a snowy winter.  It doesn't.  St John's other three sims may have nippy mornings about now, perhaps rising into the 60s F on the average.  St John Woods is a deciduous equilibrium for those of us who need seasons. It never lost most of its rental base from its previous incarnation as a New England gothic community.  The location may be a touch more mystifying in its proximity but remains well defined by the seasons.

I may be committing a sin typing some of this on an iPhone during a rabbi's sermon.  He's a brilliant speaker; wish rabbis were socially savvy when I was a kid.  Dad is one of several people in his congregation who have turned 90 within the past few months.  There's a big celebration following the service with salads and cholent (hard to explain what cholent is. I'll asterisk it and explain at the end in italics)*.  During the service the celebrants were called up to the "stage" for an honorary chapter or "Par shah" reading from the torah, with Dad performing the "chapter blessing". It was an interesting sight, but unfortunately one I couldn't take pictures of.  Fundamentally it's not my faith any longer, but one can never lose their heritage. Or memory of recitals regardless of the years.

Reading today's chapter about Jacob and his bratty kids and Judah's daughter-in-law passed up the line of sons as they each dropped dead, I don't get how the Bible could ever be the foundation for a benevolent faith.  It's full of deception, indiscriminate screwing and murder.

My shop at the RFL Christmas Expo

Holiday season events were at least as numerous as there were for Halloween. Second Life had a fever for celebration this time around.

My booths at the Mieville Thames Frost Fair and Relay For Life's Christmas Expo may not have brought much sales - my items seldom do - but they did bring some attention to my venues in St John and some smiles here and there.  A comic story was among items displayed at the latter.

Toontown had some surprises in addition to annual clothing and street decor. Toons got to enjoy special winter outfits and accessories plus snowball fights in the playground.  The added joy of Snow around town and on the estate made for a magical holiday for all ages.

Snowman heads and gardening in the snow in Toontown Rewritten

*During special holidays plus the Sabbath, observant Jews may not create fire. This means cooking is not an option. However keeping an existing flame throughout is okay. Cholent is a stew of sorts made from meat, beans, etc. and spooned out throughout the day as desired.