Succot, so soon?

Succot? So soon? I haven't made the Rosh Hashannah tzimmis, and Mirty's already writing about succah building!

When we designed our house, we decided on a nice, what seemed large at the time, "merpeset," balcony/terrace off of the kitchen, which among other things, would be the site of our succah. It ended up being a horrible location for leisure. It's on the south, so it's hot in the summer and windy in the winter. But it's ok for the succah. We have "permanent" wooden beams, which for the past few years the kids keep warning us: "They're about to collapse; you had better make other plans for Succot." So each year we wonder about the next. I have a feeling that we won't be able to hang some of the walls, since the wood holding the hinges has chipped etc.

Originally there were enormous wooden planks that had to be schlepped up from the basement and attached somehow. Then some young Russian immigrants who spent their early time in Israel considering us "family" redesigned it. They cut the large pieces of wood into smaller ones and nailed hinges into the "poles," so we just have to hang the walls. My husband can still do it himself, pretty much, if none of the boys are around.

I finally found decorations that don't embarrass my kids. I just hang up pictures from Jewish and Israeli calendars and Rosh Hashannah cards. None of my homemade artwork had ever met with their approval.

But it's all two weeks away, and I have to make the tsimmis.