Covid Journal, Day 288: A New Year

Rain and 36. Almost cold enough to snow but not quite. Perhaps just as well, because we'd be buried up if all this rain was snow.

Good afternoon, and Happy New Year to all of you!

It's a rainy start. I'd have preferred snow, but that's okay. We have a road trip tomorrow, possibly, so it might be better if the roads are only wet and not icy.

One good thing to report: apparently we are in the clear virus-wise. It's been about 6 days since we had visitors, and we're both well. I thought it would be okay as everyone who came for Christmas was either mostly self-isolated, recently tested or had already had the virus. I am still basking in the memory of their visits. 

New Year's Eve was a much quieter affair. Larry went to bed early, so it was me and the dogs waiting for midnight. I watched The Bishop's Wife, a favorite Christmas movie that I'd missed somehow this year, and then put in New Year's Eve, another favorite, while skimming Facebook and browsing seed catalogs. A few minutes before midnight I woke Larry up so we could see the year in together. Then our youngest called for a Facetime chat. He'd been celebrating at home with his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law, with good Venezulan food, music, dancing and wine. It sounds like they had a great at-home party.

We started today with a breakfast of homemade waffles, blueberries and raspberries, and bacon. Leisurely, sipping coffee, and reflecting on the past year. We know we are lucky. We're grateful that we did not face the hard issues so many have had to deal with--loss of paychecks, jobs, homes, and worst of all, loved ones who died with the virus.For so many people this has been a difficult year. Living in the country and in an isolated location, and being retired have protected us from the worst of this past year. With that gratitude comes guilt, though, and I know many of you have also felt this--because we are fine--so far--while so many are suffering. Such thoughts keep us humble and also keep us from being complacent, because at any time something could happen to completely change our situation. 

This year has made me even more appreciative of the small things. Things like a call from a friend, a cardinal on the feeder, coffee in my favorite cup--I am paying more attention. And also appreciating the time that was suddenly freed up when my storytelling and writing events were canceled for the entire year. I have used that time, perhaps not as wisely as I might have, but in ways that have been satisfying personally. I've read novels, more than I have in years. I spent more time in the gardens, and raised my own plants once again. I put up more food, more than we can possibly use. I've been cleaning the overlooked corners of our home, and sorting and downsizing a little, selling several pieces of funiture from the house and clearing out drawers and closets and storage bins. I have more to do, but I've made a good dent. Probably no one will notice the difference but me, and that's okay.

We've also managed to reduce the backlog of furniture and totes full of inventory by focusing on selling what we have, and I've done more ebay sales than ever. So stockpiles are starting to dwindle; we've given away a load or two to another furniture refurbisher, and taken a dozen or more totes of stuff that hasn't sold to an online seller. Larry has been cleaning out the garage so there is now space for his tractor to park inside, and built a little lean-to shed for his riding mower. 

I met a personal goal to lose 5 pounds, which I have to admit I lost and regained several times during the year--but I think I can say now that it's finally officially lost. Larry continues to fight his demon, and I know that battle will be ongoing, but at least we've made a tentative, if stumbling, start to getting some help. Some things take time, and take even longer now that access to medical help is more problematic.

I guess, as I read back over this post, that we've concentrated on getting our lives more organized. Not just Larry and me, but people everywhere seem to be doing the same thing. Once the hurdy-gurdy of our usual routine suddenly stopped, we stopped too, and took stock, of our priorities and of ourselves. It's funny, but this wasn't the post I intended to write--I guess it was the one my fingertips and my mind pushed to the front, so here we are. I'll spend today writing out seed orders, maybe have a nap, and then cook our dinner of roast venison with mushroom sauce, wild rice, cabbage with money in it, and blackeye peas. Maybe we'll get some turnips from the garden too, as it's always special to have something fresh from the garden on the table at New Year's. 

To start the year on a hopeful note, here's a group I recently discovered, The Fisherman's Friends. Who can possibly be down after listening to this?

All the best to all of you that have persevered with me over the months and years. May your new year be healthy, safe, peaceful and joy-filled.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 287: Getting Ready for New Year's Day

Rain, then sleet this morning, 38 and dropping. Snow flurries expected this morning, then more rain.

It's not a pretty day to end the year, but maybe the rain is really the tears all of us have shed this year as we lost so many to Covid-19. A somber thought on this gray morning, but let's look ahead now to the year in front of us. What will it be? How will it be? How will we be? 

To lighten the mood a little, here is the best from several posts I've written in the past about New Year's Day. So get ready to get ready--gather your parsley, black-eyed peas, cabbage, and ham, along with your beverage of choice to welcome in this new beginning. 

In 2008 I posted a blog about New Year's traditions, and in 2011 I recorded an interview for WV Public Radio on the topic. Here are some new ones I've found, along with the essay and my original post at the bottom for those of you who might have forgotten all the technicalities that supposedly ensure luck, health, happiness and wealth in the coming year.

Calendar: Take a calender for the new year, then close your eyes (or use a blindfold if it's a party) and turn the pages of the calendar at random and put your finger on a date. On that date, something good will happen to you. You will be able to look forward to this "lucky day" all year.

First-footer: always make sure it is a man who enters your home first on New Year's Day. Some traditions hold that it should be a light-haired man. (I'm in luck there, with Larry's white head!) Others insist on a light-haired man, so I guess it's all good either way.

Parsley: a leaf of parsley on the bottom shelf of your fridge on New Year's Day will make it certain that you will never be without money in the coming year. No wonder I've always been broke. Who knew?

And yet more. This could be a busy day, just getting ready for midnight.

Have you cleaned your house, put on new clothes, put money in your pocket and invited a dark-haired man to be the first to cross your threshold at midnight? If you have done all of these things, you have made a good start for the new year. 

As for food: many people in the mountains still cook and serve cabbage every New Year’s Day. I follow my English mother’s tradition of wrapping wrapped coins in foil, to be found in the servings on our plates at dinner. Although health experts would probably choke on their cabbage at such a practice, it has apparently done me little harm, although I can’t say I have ever gained the wealth that was supposed to come from dutifully following this custom. The cabbage must be served with pork, because chickens and turkeys scratch for their food, and cattle eat standing still. Since the hog eats while moving forward, obviiously pork is the best choice to ensure a year of progress.

Finding a dark-haired man, called the “first-footer,” to enter your home before anyone else on New Year’s morning is supposed to assure wealth, just as it did for my mother’s family back in England.  There are also those who believe that it’s bad luck to take the Christmas tree down until after New Year’s Day. So if you’re one of those who hurries to get the tree down quickly after Christmas Day, you might want to enjoy that tree just a little longer and see if your fortunes improve this year. In Scotland, homes are scoured for the coming of the new year, a custom that still has its followers in our mountains. I heard a Jackson County neighbor refer to this as “redding the house,” the same term used in Scotland to describe these preparations.

Fire has been used as a purifying force as far back as history can recall. In the British Isles there are fire festivals dating to the times of the ancient Celts that are still observed. So light a fire, burn your troubles in it, and bring in the coming year with a purifying ritual. 

More from past posts:

Do you have special plans for your New Year's celebration?

• Other things I do to ensure a good year:
• Listen up! The first words I hear after the year changes might carry portents for the rest of the year.
• Do things I enjoy on New Year's Day. This often includes touching base with my family and planning the garden with seed catalogs in hand.
• We used to have to work every New Year's Eve and New Year's day. Now it's important to me to be home because it seems to impact how the rest of my year will go. Superstitious? Yeah!
• Spend no money. An old superstition says that nothing should go out, not even dust or the trash. I don't know about that, but not spending on New Year's is another of those precedent-setting things for the coming year.
• There are conflicting world opinions about sweeping on New Year's. Some say you will sweep out your luck, others sweep out the old year's dust. So I sweep if it's needed!
• My mother always said that if you cried on New Year's, you'd cry all year. True? I don't know, but I try not to cry ;-)

As for food:

We always eat cabbage (with wrapped coins mixed in--I think this was a way to get kids to eat cabbage, one of the few vegetables available in winter in the old days, but probably not a favorite with kids then either! My sons were always on the hunt for rthe coins, but the deal was they had to eat all their cabbage to keep the coins. Quarters were the favorite, of course.), The cabbage can be coleslaw, of course, although somehow that seems like cheating.
Black-eyed peas are on the menu, too--my version mixes the peas with Ro-Tell Tomatoes and onions--spicy and good. And ham--yumm!

So share! What are your plans? What will you cook? What will you do or not do to celebrate and to guarantee your good luck?

For more ideas about food and celebration, try these websites:

New Year's Day traditions and superstitions

A list of 13 New Year's superstitions--an unlucky number for luck?

Food Network's gallery of recipes

How to make Hoppin' John to spice up those black-eyed peas (but I like my version best!)

And lastly:

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

A New Year's Compendium of Traditions, Superstitions and More

In 2008 I posted a blog about New Year's traditions, and in 2011 I recorded an interview for WV Public Radio on the topic. Here are some new ones I've found, along with the essay and my original post at the bottom for those of you who might have forgotten all the technicalities that supposedly ensure luck, health, happiness and wealth in the coming year.

Calendar: Take a calender for the new year, then close your eyes (or use a blindfold if it's a party) and turn the pages of the calendar at random and put your finger on a date. On that date, something good will happen to you. You will be able to look forward to this "lucky day" all year.

First-footer: always make sure it is a man who enters your home first on New Year's Day. Some traditions hold that it should be a light-haired man. (I'm in luck there, with Larry's white head!) Others insist on a light-haired man, so I guess it's all good either way.

Parsley: a leaf of parsley on the bottom shelf of your fridge on New Year's Day will make it certain that you will never be without money in the coming year. No wonder I've always been broke. Who knew?

Here is an essay I did for WV Public Radio a few years ago:

Have you cleaned your house, put on new clothes, put money in your pocket and invited a dark-haired man to be the first to cross your threshold at midnight? If you have done all of these things, you have made a good start for the new year. And you will be joining a long line of mountaineers who have followed these same customs for years, many of which came to the Appalachians with the early settlers from Britain and Europe.

For example, there is the food: many people in the mountains still cook and serve cabbage every New Year’s Day. I follow my English mother’s tradition of wrapping wrapped coins in foil, to be found in the servings on our plates at dinner. Although health experts would probably choke on their cabbage at such a practice, it has apparently done me little harm, although I can’t say I have ever gained the wealth that was supposed to come from dutifully following this custom. The cabbage must be served with pork, because chickens and turkeys scratch for their food, and cattle eat standing still. Since the hog eats while moving forward, obviiously pork is the best choice to ensure a year of progress.

Finding a dark-haired man, called the “first-footer,” to enter your home before anyone else on New Year’s morning is supposed to assure wealth, just as it did for my mother’s family back in England.  There are also those who believe that it’s bad luck to take the Christmas tree down until after New Year’s Day. So if you’re one of those who hurries to get the tree down quickly after Christmas Day, you might want to enjoy that tree just a little longer and see if your fortunes improve this year. In Scotland, homes are scoured for the coming of the new year, a custom that still has its followers in our mountains. I heard a Jackson County neighbor refer to this as “redding the house,” the same term used in Scotland to describe these preparations.

I enjoy following the old traditions. It just feels right to prepare for the new year by cleaning the house, paying off bills, and cooking traditional foods. I can almost feel a long line of those who have gone before me watching over my shoulder and nodding approval. I think they would approve a new custom we started at my house about ten years ago too, and that is the burning of our troubles in a New Year’s bonfire.

Fire has been used as a purifying force as far back as history can recall. In the British Isles there fire festivals dating to the times of the ancient Celts that are still observed, so our fire is not a new idea after all, but rather the continuation of a long tradition.

Each year we invite friends, family, and even strangers to send their troubles to us, to be burned in our fire on New Year’s eve. Most of these troubles are sent to us via email, from as far away as Australia and Taiwan. Many of the messages simply say, “burn this.” Over the years a few people have sent updates on their problems, letting us know what has improved in their lives and what new troubles have come their way. Once we received a message from someone that said, “no new troubles to send. Happy New Year!” Emails have come from as far away as Australia and Taiwan. Each message goes into the fire with prayers and loving thoughts for the sender.

We've been doing this for ten years now, and it's a tradition that has come to have a lot of meaning for my family. There are some people who only get in touch each year to send their troubles, and that's fine. I just like knowing they're out there. Some have told me they've started the tradition in their own homes, and that's the best of all.

As for me, I have my own troubles to burn this year. It has not been the best of years and I have several things I need to let go. As we gather around the fire this year, singing, talking and remembering, I will toss my own pieces of paper into the flames and watch the ashes drift away into the night air. Then I will look ahead to the new year knowing that those troubles are behind me, and a new year, filled with promise, awaits. 

Now, here's my original post:

Do you have special plans for your New Year's celebration?

Do you observe certain traditions and customs?

Do you have New Year's superstitions?

Do you prepare special foods for luck and health?

Or do you just go to bed at your usual time?

As you might know from a previous post, we build a New Year's bonfire in which we burn all the things that are worrying us and those who send their troubles to us to burn.

We stay up late, share music and stories, have lots of food on hand. (You can read all about last year's celebration here.) The kids beat pots and pans to celebrate, the adults sip champagne, and we wake up the quiet night of the ridge with our noise. Far away we can usually hear fireworks and guns going off as neighbors on distant hills celebrate in their own ways.

• I watch for the first-footer too, trying to make sure it's a dark-haired man who leaves through a different door than the one through which he entered. In Scotland, this first-footer should carry in a small lump of coal for the fire--at my house, a log for the wood stove might be more appropriate! (Last year I wrote this post about five ways to celebrate.)
  
  Other things I do to ensure a good year:
• Listen up! The first words I hear after the year changes might carry portents for the rest of the year.
• Do things I enjoy on New Year's Day. This often includes touching base with my family and planning the garden with seed catalogs in hand.
• We used to have to work every New Year's Eve and New Year's day. Now it's important to me to be home because it seems to impact how the rest of my year will go. Superstitious? Yeah!
• Spend no money. An old superstition says that nothing should go out, not even dust or the trash. I don't know about that, but not spending on New Year's is another of those precedent-setting things for the coming year.
• There are conflicting world opinions about sweeping on New Year's. Some say you will sweep out your luck, others sweep out the old year's dust. So I sweep if it's needed!
• My mother always said that if you cried on New Year's, you'd cry all year. true? I don't know, but I try not to cry ;-)

As for food:
We always eat cabbage (with wrapped coins mixed in--I think this was a way to get kids to eat cabbage, one of the few vegetables available in winter in the old days, but probably not a favorite with kids then either! My sons were always on the hunt for rthe coins, but the deal was they had to eat all their cabbage to keep the coins. Quarters were the favorite, of course.), The cabbage can be coleslaw, of course, although somehow that seems like cheating.
Black-eyed peas are on the menu, too--my version mixes the peas with Ro-Tell Tomatoes and onions--spicy and good. And ham--yumm!

So share! What are your plans? What will you cook? What will you do or not do to celebrate and to guarantee your good luck?
For more ideas for food and celebration, try these websites:

New Year's Day traditions and superstitions

A list of 13 New Year's superstitions--an unlucky number for luck?

Food Network's gallery of recipes

How to make Hoppin' John to spice up those black-eyed peas (but I like my version best!)

And lastly:

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

New Year's Day: Into Old Man's Cave

We decided to start our new year a little dfferently than the usual. Instead of cooking a big dinner and having some family over, we planned a hike. Our destination: Old Man's Cave, in the Hocking Hills State Park near Logan Ohio.

According to the park's website: "Old Man's Cave derives its name from the hermit Richard Rowe who lived in the large recess cave of the gorge. His family moved to the Ohio River Valley around 1796 from the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee to establish a trading post. He and his two dogs traveled through Ohio along the Scioto River in search of game. On one side trip up Salt Creek, he found the Hocking Region. Rowe lived out his life in the area and is buried beneath the ledge of the main recess cave. Earlier residents of the cave were two brothers, Nathaniel and Pat Rayon, who came to the area in 1795. They built a permanent cabin 30 feet north of the cave entrance. Both brothers are buried in or near the cave. Their cabin was later dismantled and relocated on the nearby Iles farm to be used as a tobacco drying house."

We were intrigued. Live an entire lifetime in a cave? What sort of place was this anyway?

The cave is located in a gorge cut through sandstone by Salt Creek. There are several waterfalls and lots of hiking options. Given our limited time, we opted to take the 2-mile hike that took in the upper and middle waterfalls and the cave itself.

It was warmer than usual on New Years day, cloudy and threatening rain but the temperatures stayed in the 40's. The ground however, was soggy, soggy, soggy from the heavy rains of the past few days.

We hoped that the rain meant that the waterfalls in the park would be flowing full. They did not disappoint.

I wondered how those people got down there...

 and soon found out. The trail winds down and down, and I have to admit there were times when my vertigo nearly had me frozen against the cliffs. The steps are stone and many are not level and/or are high steps for a short person with a bad knee, but here and there kind young men grabbed my hands and helped me over some of the harder places. Bless them! I was determined to go on and not turn back after coming all this way. Vertigo is an odd thing--I never know when it's going to hit. This day, it reared its mean old head a few times but in the end I won.

The green lushness of the place reminded me very much of Beartown Rocks in Pocahontas County, WV. Ferns abounded and I wondered what it must be like in this place in summer.

Amazing rock formations everywhere.

And waterfalls! A person could satisfy their waterfall craving here!

This wild whirlpool is called the Devil's Bathtub. Can you imagine tying a load of clothes in a sack and dangling it in that? I bet the clothes would be clean in no time.

Larry enjoyed trying out his new phone's camera. He's still getting the hang of it, but he took many photos during our walk.

And another waterfall... ahhhh....

These steps caused me to catch my breath! At the bottom I found I could not make my feet move. I was frozen to the wall, until a nice young man, who had been watching me come down, came over and gave me a helping hand. Whew.

At the bottom of the steps, this place--well worth the scare.

Along the path, a witch hazel shrub was in bloom. It was nice to see something flowering on the first day of the year.

More falls, which we would cross...see the path there?

Huge, jutting rocks hang overhead...

This bridge was another vertigo-inducing experience. Normally I'd skip right across something like this but it took everything in me to cross it this time.

Far above, the A-frame bridge we would cross later on our way out.

The pale area in this photo was such a surprise--it looked like the sun was shining on it, but it's actually a completely dry area under a gigantic hanging rock--the Old Man's Cave.

Roots of an overturned tree drew my eyes; they looked like basket-weaving.

Then through a tunnel..

and under a small waterfall...

through another tunnel...

and there it was, the yawning opening of a gigantic cave. I wish I had some people in this photo to give an idea of the scale of the place.

Here Larry talks under the cave to a young veteran we met along the way. More about him later.

Can you imagin living in this place? Shelter, running water, plenty of game, wood for fuel, and natural protection from any marauding Natives that might pass by. Perfection.

The end of the trail. Larry and his new vet friend posed for a photo. I asked permission to post it because this man's story is incredible. At 42 years old, he has already had a broken back and other injuries and has had three heart attacks. He also has many blood clots in his legs and elsewhere, and walking was a real struggle for him. But he did it, and he is an inspiration to anyone who thinks they can't do something. With enough will power, the impossible can become possible. He knows he is living on borrowed time and he means to make the most of what time he has. It was humbling to meet him. Here I was struggling along with my vertigo and Larry's knee wasn't much fun, but this man had such serious health issues---and still he took that hike.  We never learned his name, but he will be in my prayers every day.

One last thought: John Muir once said we should not "hike" in the woods, but rather saunter. His words: “I don't like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not 'hike!' Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It's a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, 'A la sainte terre', 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them.”



Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

And a New Year Begins

We're off on the next adventure! Let us hope that 2018 brings health, peace and joy to us all.

A cold and frosty start to the new year, zero degrees on my porch but oh so beautiful.

All the heaters are going full tilt, and the house is warm and bright. The dogs are inside, the cats have claimed the workroom heater, and the root cellar is warmed by the new heater Larry put in in the building above it.

Today will be low-key for us. We stayed up to see the new year in last night, watching The Bucket List again as well as an odd movie called Chance with Peter Sellers. That one left us discussing and thinking, I can tell you. Interesting. We had Irish cheese, crackers, ham, pickles and veggies, white wine for me and Guinness for him. By midnight, I'd have a couple glasses of wine so instead of making eggnog as planned I toasted the year in with water, and Larry with brandy. It was a really nice evening with a good fire in the fireplace. I missed being with family as usual, but this year wisdom and caution dictated an evening at home.

This afternoon I am making noodles again, since we ate or gave away all of the last batch. Then I'll make dinner: the traditional ham, cabbage, and blackeye peas and sweet potatoes. I might paint a few small things if time allows, or price some costume jewelry for my booths, read a little...it will be that kind of day for us.

Hoping you are all warm and cozy, healthy and hangover-free on this first day of the year!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

And So The Year Ends

A few little flowers to brighten the day

 Last New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were warmer than normal--so warm we worked outside almost all day on New Year's. This year it is the exact opposite, very cold and the ground covered in snow.

Last year we went out on New Year's Eve for the first time in years, taking in the music for First Night in Charleston, WV. We had a great time and were home in time for a fire to see the new year in.

This year? We will not be budging from the house. With predicted temperatures near zero and about 3 inches or more of snow on the ground, the better part of valor is to stay put.

We're all set to celebrate though, with eggnog and a good fire in the fireplace, and the pets inside too. Dinner is all planned: ham, blackeye peas for luck, cabbage with money in it for riches, and sweet potatoes for health (I made that one up, but it's not a bad idea!).

I will miss being out with people though. Usually we have a bonfire with family, and burn our troubles in the fire. But not this year--this year I think everyone will be doing much the same as we are. There's always the phone to keep us connected.

What are your plans? Are you going out? Staying in? Cooking? Sleeping? Do tell!

Here are some links to past posts I wrote about New Year's traditions, in case you need some ideas.

Folktales, Legends, and Superstitions for New Year's Day

Starting the New Year Right--more folkore!

Tradition Bound--thinking about family traditions.

And a whole compendium of New Year's stuff!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.