Purim, which means

[magid]

Yesterday was Purim, holiday of revelry and extreme empty calories (whether sugar or alcohol). I followed my usual custom in not imbibing (active colds + booze = not good for me), though some sugar did happen (best home-made thing of the mishloach manot to come my way: baklava! mmmmm.....). I repurposed my bee hat and bee T-shirt (covered with the word for bee, grouped by language families), which was satisfying in a low-key way. I was blessed by a pope (amusingly chosen by a kohen). I used an unknown-but-large number of tissues, and instead of making what I realized would be the thematically-appropriate Persian dish king's rice (shahee polo), I made a large pot of chicken broth with vegetables (including a whole head of garlic). I assembled and delivered some mishloach manot, and ended up hanging out with a friend I haven't had time to talk with for a while.

Today is Shushan Purim, which, since I don't live in a city walled at the time of Joshua, means that not much other than a few liturgical changes from a regular weekday. And it means that there's only a month left...