Musings at the end of a year ... 2009 ...

The last day of 2009 and I’m sitting here at my office desk considering what the New Year might hold for me and mine … and you and yours. Doesn’t it go without saying that I hope 2010 will be a better year for folks, more stable, more hopeful, providing more peace of mind? Of course!

Then I started thinking of what opportunities will present for mental and spiritual growth. What good luck will I experience in the coming year?

One definition of luck or fortuity is a belief in good or bad fortune in life caused by accident or chance, which happens beyond a person's control. On the other hand, wasn’t it Thomas Jefferson who claimed, “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” In line with this theory, friend Julie Viereck is always telling me, “God don’t throw no cheeseburgers under your door!” Thomas and Julie seem to think one makes their own good fortune.

That in turn made me think of traditional lucky objects or foods that bring good fortune in the New Year.

When I was a kid we lived in Tokyo, Japan for some years and we would eat O Mochi, which is glutinous white rice pounded into “cakes,” on the first day of the New Year. Sometimes it had a sweetened red bean paste inside the rice cake. It’s a major tradition in Japan to insure good fortune in the New Year.

I looked online to see what other traditional foods are believed to bring good fortune.

Pork is served at New Year’s celebrations all over the world. Some cultures believe that pigs symbolize prosperity because one seldom sees a skinny pig, while others say pigs are the embodiment of progress because they push forward as they root around for food. Traditional dishes include roast suckling pig in Ireland, Austria and Peru; roast pork and sausages with cabbage in Germany; ham and collard greens in the United States; and pig’s feet in Sweden.

Back in Japan, another tradition is to serve buckwheat soba noodles at New Year’s festivities to ensure long life. They also eat shrimp for longevity. It’s alleged the curve of the shrimp resembles the hunched back of an elderly person.

And how about beans? Like most round foods, beans are thought to represent money in many cultures. Italians eat pork sausages and green lentils, Brazilians serve lentils and rice. Black-eyed peas are a traditional part of New Year’s meals in the South, such as in Hoppin’ John, or Texas Caviar.

In Mexico and many South American countries, I read that instead of toasting in the New Year with champagne, partygoers eat twelve grapes at the stroke of midnight, one for each month of the coming year. If the grape is sweet, it foretells a good month, but if it’s sour that month might not be so good.

Oranges and tangerines represent good luck and wealth when celebrating Chinese New Year (February 14, 2010—Oh! That’s also my son Paul’s birthday! Luck fellow!)

In Turkey, pomegranates symbolize good luck because of their red color and round seeds, which symbolize money and prosperity.

I also learned there are a couple of “unlucky” foods to avoid serving during your New Year’s celebrations. Don’t serve chicken or anything with wings because it could fly away, taking your good luck elsewhere! Lobsters are also a no-no because they swim backwards. The color white is also a sign of death in the Chinese culture, so avoid eggs, tofu, or white cheese.

So, if you’re traditionally superstitious and don’t want to jinx your good luck in 2010, maybe you’ll serve some of these international prosperity foods. Or even MORE fun, create your own good luck food tradition!

I think, though, that there might be a lot truth to what both Thomas Jefferson and Julie Viereck claim!

I WISH YOU ALL A

VERY PROSPEROUS AND HEALTHY 2010!

... and lots of cheeseburgers

Hot Chocolate Then and Now ...

It’s a cold mid-morning here at Birch Bay, a layer of clouds overhead with some blue sky and the sun managing to shine through, wind riffling the water at high tide. I can hear the waves as a subtext to Christmas music on the office radio and cars and trucks passing by out on Birch Bay Drive.

A time of holiday reflection until the coffee pot finishes its dripping task and I can get a cup of fresh, then back to work.

I see people I know walking or driving by and we exchange waves. It’s a good place, laid back, unpretentious.

Someone at the real estate staff meeting this morning asked if I was going down to California to be with family for Christmas. I’m not. She reacted to my simple response as though something was “wrong” and that I didn’t want to talk about it, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I look back with warmth on many years of family holiday traditions and anticipation, and busy, bustling, fun-filled activities of finding just the right tree, making decorations and cookies with the kids, sending out Christmas cards, plates of cookies to the neighbors, shopping, wrapping, unsuccessfully hiding presents, reading the Christmas Story to the kids on Christmas Eve, steaming hot chocolate and marshmallows Christmas morning while opening presents, Christmas dinner—the works! I loved it!

However, those days have passed and I’m celebrating the season in new ways. I’m just not sure if I have new traditions just yet. I’m okay with this. My life has become more open, less structured, different expectations, fewer “things.” The last couple of years have been financially challenging, so I won’t be flying to Hawaii for Christmas this year, although I’d love to take my sons and their families there for the holidays! Maybe next year ... who knows what new traditions I'll start.

A widowed friend, Nancy, remarked to me last week that her recently married daughter wanted her to join in the Christmas festivities with her new husband’s family. Nancy told her daughter that she had married into that family, not Nancy, and that she simply wanted to be at home for the holidays. Nancy asked if she was turning into a curmudgeon. I think not. I think we shouldn’t be judged as a wet blanket just because we know ourselves well enough to rather enjoy ourselves in our own way. To everything there is a season. I take comfort in my solitude. Just as I take comfort knowing my sons and family members are having a blast celebrating the holiday in their own fashion. Just as Nancy doesn’t begrudge her daughter making merry with her new in-laws.

So, my Christmas 2009 will be a quiet affair. I’ll probably take Suki for a walk along the bay. Maybe I’ll take along a thermos of hot chocolate and marshmallows and sit on a bench and watch the seagulls. My sons will call and we'll share our love. Everyone makes the most of what they have in their own way. It’s an attitude adjusting time, and whether anyone else is happy with my attitude, concerns me little. I hasten to add there's definitely no “Bah Humbug” here! It's all good!

Oh, there’s the beep-beep-beep of the coffee pot. Back to work!

But before I leave, check out this website

for some INCREDIBLE hot chocolate

-- really decadent chocolate --

recipes and a history of chocolate.

Merry Christmas!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beverage/HotChocolate.htm