And A New Year is in the Works

I can't believe that Christmas is over. It seems like just a few minutes ago that I was still frantically wrapping gifts and cooking and wondering what I had forgotten to do...and it's over. In a way it's like getting a reprieve, because now I can start planning for next Christmas. In less than a week we will be celebrating a new year...2008. I'm certain I was still writing 2006 on my checks way into the fifth month of 2007. And now, I'll be doing the same thing with 2007. I know I'm not alone in that. I read somewhere that the idea of celebrating the New Year started in Babylonia about 4000 years ago. But if I remember correctly the New Year began on the first day of Spring, something about the Vernal Equinox and a crescent moon, or new moon...and that the use of a baby was a Greek thing having to do with wine and the grapes...oh, and New Year Resolutions, that's a Babylonian thing, too...you're supposed to resolve to return your neighbor's farm tools? Well, something like that. Now of course we make a long list of things to do, like lose weight, quit smoking, stop what ever bad habit we've picked up over the past few years. I don't think the return of a tractor or plow has been on any one's list in a long time. That being said, James, if you're reading this don't forget where you got that socket wrench set. Okay, so while I'm not sure of it's origin or exactly what it means, I do know that I will have to prepare collards and hopping john for New Years day dinner. The collards will bring green folding money, the black eyed peas (cooked in rice) will bring coins. Now, I've been eating collards and hopping john for as long as I can remember on New Year's day, and to what end? While its taste is mighty fine, the only wealth it's brought can not be put in the bank. I have not become rich in the eating of these traditional foods. However, I am rich in the friendships that have come my way, in fact, that is probably more important to me than money. So, Happy New Year greetings will be coming your way...and soon, very very soon!