New Year’s greetings to everybody. I hope you enjoyed the Christmas holiday season.
Like you, I enjoyed all the greeting cards and calls received from family and friends.
Senior residents always appreciate the beautiful fruit trays distributed in the community with compliments from Williams Lodge 77, Charleston. This is a service project the lodge plans every year. Thanks, Mr. Jerry Brooks, whose delivery list includes our community. It blesses residents’ hearts and homes with the kind gesture, especially this time of year.
I hope you are having a wonderful first week of the new year. How about the first day of 2023, welcoming in the new year with the traditional new year’s dish, “Hoppin’ John”? This means good luck will follow you all year long! I’m not really superstitious. My mother always gave the adult children a package of peas and a piece of jowl for New Year’s, and we continue the tradition. The almanac says some think good luck visits those who count the black-eyed peas on their plate for a hint at the amount of luck or wealth that will come.
Another custom says that eating all but three of the peas on your plate promises a trio of benefits: luck, wealth and romance.
Anyway, where does the name “Hoppin’ John” come from? One source suggest that Hoppin’ John was a handicapped man who cooked and sold the dish in Charleston, South Carolina in 1841. One tradition has children hopping around the dinner table as the dish was brought in from the kitchen.
It’s the beginning of a new year. We can focus on the new year with new hopes, new beginnings and new and renewed relationships.
There is something fascinating about turning a calendar to the next month. I admire pictures, messages and other prints on the calendar.
Two calendars last year were my favorites, one from the drug store with healthy tips each month, and the other from the Equal Justice Initiative, with a black history note for each day. We have some beautiful 2023 calendars with interesting themes to turn to each month.
Have you noticed the beautiful sunsets this winter? One day my neighbor expressed how beautiful the sunset was and called it to the attention of her husband. I think it was Dec. 21, the first day of winter. I had just mentioned the sunset, describing the beauty as I watched the rainbow in its place.
My son asked us to look out to see the sunset one evening. Sunrise is equally just as beautiful. Take time to watch the sun rise and set; tell someone else about your experience.
As you read The Sun-Sentinel weekly and see the Blue Cane Little Hubbard News column, I am glad to be part of your life all year round. The writing is good therapy for me. Thanks for the comments when I see you; some phone calls with comments and questions give me encouragement.
While making your New Year’s resolutions, do not neglect the priority of growing closer to God. Make 2023 your year to renew commitment and service to God.
I wish you all good health, happiness and comfort.
Enjoy life today. Be blessed.
