Happy New Year...and don't forget the cabbage!

Ready or not, it’s here. 2009. We welcomed the new year by watching a movie on television, and then listening to KAAM play golden oldies until midnight. A glass of sparkling cider and a handful of crème brulee almonds was the extent of celebratory indulgence, and then it was off to bed.

Yesterday, I managed to get all the Christmas decorations down and packed away, so that was a relief. Ours were the last decorations up in the neighborhood this year, and the first down, but Southern, or maybe it’s Texas tradition that dictates they should be down before January 1st. I sure don’t want to violate Texas tradition, especially since I hail from north of the Mason-Dixon line, and want to retain my “good ol’ boy” standing in the community.

There are lots of New Years traditions, and I think I managed to comply with most of them, so hopefully we’ll avoid bad luck. The house was clean, so it wouldn’t be a mess for the rest of the year. Then, today, we ate black-eyed peas and cabbage, and those are “musts” on the first day of the year. I think you’re also supposed to eat tamales, but maybe that’s only the Latinos. In any case, I’m not a tamale fan, so I’ll risk a tiny bit of bad luck and pass on their mandatory consumption.