Barefoot Memories of a Hillbilly - New (??) Year, Old Luck

New (??) Year, Old Luck

Why do we call it a new year if we keep doing the same ole things over and over? Since we’ve made it to the “New Year,” Mom says it’s time for the Christmas tree to come down. Seems the old timers thought it bad luck to take down the tree before the new year, so lots of folk leave it up till then to ensure the best of luck. So out with the tree and in with the things that will jog us full of good luck, like black eyed peas or cabbage. Cook them black eyed peas up with a bit of pork, onion and some seasoning, and if you live down south, you call it Hoppin John.

I read in one of them booklets at the church that black eyed peas for luck was actually a thing that started back in Bible days, when lentils were served at meals and feast times to show that God provides. Lentils are a cousin to cowpea and/or black eyed peas. Of course the biblical or Jewish version was prepared without pork, but both the old recipe and the modern day recipe offers up lots of fortune and blessings. In the deep South, they say Hoppin John got its name from a old fellar with a bum leg and limp that supported his family by selling portions of a soul food (made with black eyed peas and rice) on a street corner. Pap said he was told as it kid that it was so called because it put the youngens to “hoppin” about the table with excitement.

Pap also said the old folks said cabbage was a New Years good luck food. The more strands of cabbage on the table the richer the New Years fortune. He said folk would usually serve sour kraut, but to make sure as much luck as possible, they’d also serve boiled cabbage and at least one other dish with shredded cabbage. Him and Mom said back in their days a lot of families would “hole” their extra produce, like cabbage, carrots, apples and parsnips, meaning they’d dig holes or trenches to bury the produce in the cold ground after lining the trenches with fresh straw. The foods stayed nice and cool, and useable for several months, and cabbage particularly did well, becoming crisp and tender as it awaited its time for use. The green of the cabbage stands for wealth.

Now, back to that Christmas tree. Some say it must be down and out of the way at midnight New Year’s Eve, or you’ll drag your old luck into the new year. Others say it’s got to stay up till actual first day of the year (to put a complete end to the past year) and some think it should stay up until after “old Christmas” or epiphany, which marks the day that the wise men found the baby Jesus after following THE star. Now it’s like me and Pap says, we’re not superstitious, but it’s okay to be cautious, just in case. Same as when I ask to borrow his knife and I gotta return it to him the same way I borrowed it, open or closed. As it would be, Mom is hollering for us to git into gear and help get this tree taken down. I happen to know, if we don’t do as she says, we will experience a bit of that bad luck first hand, and all the peas or lentils in the world won’t save us. So till next time, have a good fortune filled New Years Day!

I  wear shoes now, but sometimes I have barefoot memories.