Pursuant to yesterday’s dilemma, I returned the expensive beeswax candles and told them why. The guy I spoke to didn’t seem to be unduly concerned. He told me they rarely carried “petroleum-based” candles, but that the reasonably priced ones I’d bought there last year probably were petroleum based. Meanwhile, I note that Amazon prices for similar candles are more like $11–$16 – Whole Paycheck is living up to its nickname. (Amazon’s are not marked as being discounted from a higher price – I don’t think they’re undercutting prices here, because if they were they’d brag about it.)
Of the other local stores I frequent, I forgot to check whether Fred Meyer has any Chanukah candles, but if they do they won’t be the nicer looking ones. Meanwhile, New Seasons has done away with their Jewish and other “ethnic” sections – they still have the same products, just integrated with everything else. For instance, if you want kasha, you need to look with the other grains. I can see advantages to this – for one thing, it normalizes eating Jewish, Mexican, or Asian foods. On the other hand, it makes it harder to figure out where to find specialty or seasonal products like Chanukah candles or Passover matzah. If I see candles there, I might buy a box for next year – just to establish that there is a demand.
I’m about two-thirds done my share of our holiday cards. This has been a very boring year for us, so much so that our holiday letter was a very short one this year. Sad when you can’t think of much to say about a whole year!