The Taunting - Travel Edition Fifth Candle

On the way to the fifth night we were experiencing technical difficulties on the inside of the Taunting and on the Outside.

The Taunting is carefully balanced and full of ying and yang. I do not know what The Taunting would look like if there weren't two children and they weren't different genders.  I do know it would still be there, and it would still celebrate each child's individualities and similarities simultaneously. The Taunting is not about being even, the Taunting is about being heard, even if they don't realize we were listening.

So thus when we put together the Taunting, we realized there was a problem - the balance on the fifth candle was off! It was a Poppet Emergency! Despite the best efforts of Poppets and People alike, the tiny culprit that threw off the balance prevailed and settled into the Takeout Box. That was the technical difficulty from inside and outside. Then there was the difficulties that come from the Overlap. We were not going to bring our channukiot (plural of channukia) because Grandma, of course has one. A decision was made that group photos of The Taunting participants would just take place at the end. During the Travel Edition individual crews would take photos with Grandma's Menorah (Grandma doesn't like to put on airs either).

Then  . . .  disaster! The charger for the camera was missing. Which of course was discovered while getting ready to leave because the camera was on low battery. It seemed that the Taunting would not be Blogged. But then . . . . .Salvation! Our friend who has no Overlap, had the same model of camera and we could stop by and pick up her charger. Then  . . . Disappointment. It was just a little off, but then  . . . . Hope and Redemption! She found a AA battery operated Canon and sent us on our way promising that the Taunting would still be aired. We felt very religious, after all that disaster and salvation and hope and redemption, and we also had someone who was keeping Black Death in his pocket so I'm sure we were acting out someone's religious narrative somewhere, even if it wasn't a terribly serious religion. I'd like to think it might be the religion associated with the small God in Dirk Gently's Refrigerator.  Most importantly we could keep our promise to air the Taunting.

And initially it was all OK. For the Fifth Candle, one recipient was given Monday's Poppet.

 

She was most appreciative, having eyed the little feline type friend for a while, but you and she both realize that Monday's Poppet is only pretending to be a Cat. 

Our problem was with the other Takeout container, because you see, Poppets are generally polite if pressing, but Cats are Cats, and there is really nothing anyone can do about that. 

When the other recipient opened his takeout container he looked in and found this

The note reads:

"I am keeping this space warm until a little Black Poppet arrives.

Then I might move.

El Gatto"

And then the borrowed Cannon promptly ran out of AA Battery life, which is when we found out that Grandma's house may be very powerful and it may very well have been both Christmas and Channuka, but no one in the house was capable of finding new batteries for the camera. And that was the last picture taken on Fifth Candle. We think El Gatto did it and just didn't want to move to take a photo.

Where was the little Black Poppet? His story will come later, there were other Poppets wandering but not lost this Taunting, and there were still three candles to go . . . .

You can mess with the Taunting but you cannot stop it.