Well, here I sit, Dec. 31, 2022, waiting for midnight like we do this time every year, with one exception. What's that, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. David and I are not staying up late to welcome the New Year. What we will be doing is making sure the old one leaves. I think this year, since it's unseasonably warm for a change, I'll open all the doors and windows just to make sure ol’ 2022 gets the heck out of our house. It has not been the best year, although not the worst, either, but still we want it GONE.
Instead of blowing horns and drinking champagne, I'll be praying hard that 2023 behaves itself so everyone will have a great, or at least really good, year. It's just gotta be better. It's just gotta. Even the Covid pandemic didn't make me dread a year like this last one so come on Baby New Year get your act together and make 2023 a year to remember in a good way.
In the past, I've always been pretty blasé about ringing in the new year, but we may start incorporating a few more 'superstitions' I've heard of over the years. When we go to my sister's house to party, she always has black-eyed peas simmering on the stove and grapes to eat at midnight. Each person eats 12 grapes representing one for each month. If this past year is any indication, I think I'd better hedge our bets so here are a few new traditions (to me) I may be tempted to use: Burning an old man on New Year's Eve. Don't panic. I don't mean David. Ha! Ha! Burning an effigy of an old man is supposed to burn all the bad gloom of the old year and make way for a better one. I know this is a tradition in some South American countries, but I did not know until now that the tradition for North America started in Santa Fe, New Mexico circa 1924. People are encouraged to write notes expressing the reason for their sorrow and toss them into the fire. If I didn't think my neighbors would object, I'd sure be tempted.
It's that or step up my champagne intake. Either way beats watching a disco ball being dropped. 1907 must have been a boring year for someone to think up this raucous activity. Denmark has a better idea. They throw and break kitchenware at their friends' doors. The more broken crockery you have at your doorstep, the better your year will be. I don't have enough friends to ward away this last year.
Obviously, the black-eyed peas and grapes aren't working. If grapes aren't your thing you can celebrate like the Filipinos. They serve 12 different roundshaped fruits. I've heard Canadians like to spend the holiday ice fishing. I'd rather align with the Brazilians. They are in summer and get to spend the day at the beach. In Mexico, it's tradition to give tamales.
I read that in Greece they hang an onion on the door as a wish for good luck. It also symbolizes growth, which I could use mentally, and fertility which I definitely don't need.
An interesting tradition in Colombia involves potatoes. Three potatoes, one peeled, one not, and one partially peeled are placed under each family member's bed. At midnight each person, with their eyes closed, reaches for a potato. The peeled one represents good fortune, the unpeeled one represents financial struggle and the final potato represents a mix of both.
In Ireland, they bang loaves of Christmas bread against the walls and doors. I'm guessing there are some fermented beverages involved.
In Italy red underwear is used to bring good luck. I'm not sure what kind of luck they're looking for, but it sounds like a win-win to me.
I think my favorite tradition is Norway and Denmark's where they make an 18-layer cake. That's a tradition I could definitely get on board with. My least favorite is probably Puerto Rico where they clean their house from top to bottom for a fresh new start. Germany may have the oddest tradition. They watch a television show called 'Dinner for One' that originally aired in 1962 while making the featured fourcourse dinner to eat at the same time.
Even though most of these sound tempting, the only one that wouldn't get odd looks from the neighbors would be the red underwear and since I don't own any I guess we'll go with my second choice which is stuffing my face with whatever I can scrounge around the house, overdose on college football bowl games and fall asleep in my recliner way before midnight.
I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year.