The New Year is around the corner and I can’t wait for 2010 to begin! Not that 2009 wasn't a good year, but next year has a huge change in store for us. With a little luck, our oldest son will be vacating his permanent residence and rooming with a total stranger at a college near or far. It is a complex set of emotions that crop up when I try to imagine how life will be like without him around, and so far I’ve chosen not to think about this rite of passage too much.
Denial? Yup, and I’m not ashamed to admit it either.
Getting back to New Year’s Eve. I’ve been recalling some of the superstitions or traditions I’ve grown up with living in Mexico to celebrate the new beginning, and thinking we might adopt one or two this year, you know, just for fun!
Here are a few of them:
1. Pack a bag and place it by the door. Supposedly, doing this will lead to more travel during the upcoming year. Some people take their packed luggage and go for a walk around the block!
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />
2. Wear red underwear. I can only assume this came from some Oriental belief in the color red bringing prosperity and or love – not sure if this is limited to this area of the body or for your entire being, hm mm.
3. Eat twelve grapes for good luck at the stroke of midnight, one per chime symbolizing each of the twelve months of the year. In Mexico, radio stations broadcast the bell chiming precisely at midnight. I remember I tried chewing and swallowing the little suckers with each bell toll, but I nearly choked to death a few times!
So, which tradition will it be for us this year?
I think I’ll pack a couple of bags and place them by the door. Yes. It’ll be one for my son and the other one for me … and I’ll TIE them together as my way of putting a new twist on an old tradition so fate won’t separate us too much in 2010!
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Speak Your Mind