The final remnants of Christmas are now packed away, save for the lovely miniature poinsettia sitting perfectly inside a small ceramic smiling snowman pot on my desk–a gift from one of my patients this year. My mother used to “get the house ready” for the new year. Lingering holiday decorations were not allowed into the new year, and all of the cleaning and laundry had to be done before the first. There was no cleaning to be done on New Year’s Day.
I also remember the tradition of eating certain foods on the first day of the year—collard greens and black-eyed peas. I’m not too fond of black-eyed peas and honestly never held much stock into making sure I followed the ritual, but it all symbolized good fortune and prosperity for the coming year if I recall correctly. I would sometimes eat one or two peas. And this year, if I make my way to my mom’s on the first, I will do the same. Eat a hearty portion of collards (with hot sauce) and my two peas.
As I was “getting my house” ready last night, I thought a lot about the year and its changes and transitions. A lot can happen in a year. A lot happened this year. In the words of Rita Dove, imagine you wake up with a second chance. The blue jay hawks his pretty wares, and the oak still stands, spreading glorious shade. If you don’t look back, the future never happens… The whole sky is mine to write on in a couple of days, blown open to a blank page.
Farewell 2021…
