My Obsession
I'll admit it... I'm a little bit obsessive once I start a project - and my lastest project is building a new sukkah.
"What?" you protest "It's MUCH too early to be building a Sukkah."
Well not for me!
I have Rosh Hashana shopping and cooking to put off until the last minute, two projects due at work, a mountain of clothes to wash and iron, a pile of bills to pay and/or file, and a general disorganised mess all around...
In other words: It's the PERFECT time to build a Sukkah.
Mostly I'm excited because it's something new. For the past few years we've been using an old (third hand) 8'X8' Israeli metal poles and blue/yellow canvas job, with an addition I made of 1.5" PVC pipes and connectors and some plastic tarp. It works (unless there is a strong wind) but it looks like a shelter a homeless person might have cobbled together near the Hudson River (prior to Guilianni's stint as mayor of course- but I digress.) Sufficed to say it's embarressing.
I wanted to buy one of those clever pre-fab jobs but at $600 and up for an 8X10 (sans schach) it was just out of my reach. Luckily a friend of mine suggested the sukkah project out of North Carolina. They send you directions, a list of wood you will need and these clever metal brackets to put it all together. All you need is a power screwdriver! I got my self a 8X12 sukkah kit with canvas, and all the wood I needed for about $150! I'm not quite done building it but it's looking great already.
Check out their link - it's a great sukkah at a great price! Tell 'em Shifra sent you (They don't actually know who I am, but if enough people call maybe they will!)
posted by Shifra @ 9:35 PM
4 Comments:
Two summers ago, as a father-son project as well as out of necessity, Aaron and I built a 10X14 wood sukkah from scratch. It was a lot of fun and the result was really something to be proud of! Of course there was some degree of learning from mistakes - did you know "2x4s" are not really 2 by 4 inches?!
Now the sukkah will be a reminder of Aaron - but a good reminder.
That is a sweet reminder of your son- I hope you will enjoy it for many years to come.
My grandfather died before I was married and we used his tallis for our chuppah, it really made me feel like he was there for me on my wedding day. I hope you will have the same feeling from your sukkah.
I did know that (about the 2X4s) but I don't know WHY they call them that- it's confusing to non-wood workers. Do you know how that came about.
I loved it!
Thanks!
Our current sukkah is an ediface, and I find that as I get older I have less and less Koach for it. Thank G-d my boys are finally old enough to be of some use in putting it together. And thank G-d for my Goyishe neighbor and his power tools. He really puts a lot into it. I don't think I could do it wivout him.
(A kiddush hashem aside here: The first year we put it up, he complained to me that it was blocking the light from the alley and he wanted to know when it was coming down. We invited him for a meal. Starting with the next year, he has come to me late summers to ask when he could come over to help me put it up).
Anyway, this year I remarked to the crew that next year we'd be getting a prefab--my son reminded me that's what I said last year.
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