Donna Everhart

Holiday Blowback and A Southerner’s New Year’s Day Meal

Over the holidays it got so busy I believe there were several times my brain and body disconnected.  Matter of fact, I know they did.  It was like I was on some sort of mental auto-pilot more than once.

One of those moments happened when I thought I lost my rings.  That would be my engagement ring and wedding band, and my mother’s birthstone ring which is about 60 years old.  I put them in the pocket of an apron I was wearing (yes, an ACTUAL apron!) on Christmas Eve while at my MIL’s house.  I realized I didn’t have them after I got home.   Panic.  I called my mother in law at 11:30 p.m. and left a vm, “Don’t wash the apron, whatever you do!  I’ll call you in the  morning.”  I called her at 7:00 a.m.  No rings.  She was very logical telling me I MUST have put them in another pocket.  We backtracked and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember doing anything other than dropping them in the apron pocket.  Until I go check my coat pocket – and there they were.  And no memory of placing them there  – at all.  It was sort of scary when I thought about how we can be SO involved our brains just sort of takeover and do what we might be thinking sub-consciously.

Another time I was so doggone tired, I found I was doing The Things I Hate To Do.  A thought would send me into one room where I’d promptly forget why I was there, so I’d start to do something else, only to leave it, go to another room, start a new thing – entirely different, leave that, move some stuff around and then end up looking for what I’d moved the rest of the day.  Eventually I’d find an item where I left it hours before, and then discover those half done “things” I was also intent on finishing hours before.

Boy.  That’s what I call holiday blowback.

At any rate, I hate seeing any year end as it fills me with nostalgia and the realization it’s a time we will never get back – as is every single second of our lives.  Yet, on the other hand, I balance that nostalgia with the happiness and appreciation for all that I have and have accomplished.  There’s an eagerness in thinking about what’s to come when the clock officially sets us at the beginning of 2017.  I mean, might as well get on with it, ya know?  Ain’t no stopping the clock.

Here in the south on New Year’s day, we’ll be filling our plates with greens and black-eyed peas, a tradition intended to bring one wealth and luck in the new year.  The greens are said to represent dollar bills and the beans coins – so I plan to eat a lot.  This dates back several hundred years although most know of it from the Civil War.  You can read a bit about it here.

And with that, I’m off to start cooking my Hoppin John!  Here’s to a Happy New Year!

Courtesy 2017.Org
Courtesy 2017.Org

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8 thoughts on “Holiday Blowback and A Southerner’s New Year’s Day Meal”

  1. This year I was so busy I forgot to forget what I was supposed to forget.
    The meal today?
    Nothing special. Whatever I can thaw out of the freezer. Husband is sick, I’m coming down with it and I’m on the road this week for inventory.
    Happy F’en New Year.
    Although, I figure if I’m vertical and smiling it will be a good day.
    Yup, today will be a good day. Hope yours is as well.

    1. Hope you’re feeling well, Carolynn, and that hubby is soon well again too.
      Yesterday was a good day – busy, but good.
      Happy New Year to you!

  2. I’m soooo glad you found the rings, Donna! You can’t imagine how many times I have forgotten where I put something. I always say that if I ever pass away (probably that will never happen, 😉 but if I do), they will say in my eulogy that my most used words were: “Where is _____?” Plus: “Have you seen my____?”

    Being “a chronic loser” — haha — I’m open to trying anything that might help, even to turning a glass upside down until the lost object is found (at the expense of feeling even more eccentric and witch-like than I normally do… 😉 ): http://werejustsayin.blogspot.co.il/2007/11/just-get-glass.html

    You have created a spectacular 2016, and I know that 2017 will outdo it. I can feel that, and I wish it for you with all my heart! <3 <3 <3

    1. Ahhh, but that’s what makes you special, Lilac! Eccentricity only means unique, and we’re all unique in some way, yes, but in you’re case, your the only New Age nun I’ve ever known – or am likely to know! 🙂
      I am soooo glad I found my rings too. That’s the second time I thought I lost them over the past few years. Hate it when I do that!
      I wish all the best for you in 2017 too, Lilac! <3 <3 <3

    1. I think everybody does it – at least those of us who bear the load of holiday preparations, buying, wrapping, meal making, ensuring everyone’s got what they need, and on and on. Right???

      Happy New Year to you and yours!

  3. 2016 is all the way over, so are the holidays. Now you can be over the holidays too. Hope Santa was good to you and your plan for 2017 is ready to take the world by storm. I will be giving that a go this year too.

    Kathy, all three house kitties, the house cat and I wish you the best.

    Yes, I had blackeyed peas and ham as an almost traditional New Years meal. Seemed like a good idea with the strangeness we have to be prepared for this year.

    1. I have to say, the Hoppin John was superb, but I imagine you have to really love black-eyed peas (I do) and collards, (I do) to say that.

      Thank you for the well wishes, and pat all the kitties/cat for me, and tell Kathy hi, and all the best to you as you tackle your dreams in 2017!

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