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The Boyds celebrated the Christmas season quietly. It was a gift to have both Boydlings home for the holidays. Our sweet puppy Zelda has truly become part of our family. Snow and freezing weather has blasted the Pacific Northwest. Still, I do like snow better than rain!
I love my Christmas decor. And I usually keep it up till Twelfth Night. But today, I am starting to feel like Miss Havisham looking at all the dried out greenery. I am thinking a fire pit bonfire for New Years Eve might be the answer! I might then stare into the flames and “Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
I participated in Austenesque Reviews Austenesque Jolabokaflod, inspired by Jolabokaflod, an Icelandic Christmas Eve tradition of exchanging books and reading. I sent Elodie N. in France Plots, Ploys, and the Art of Matchmaking by Sarah Courtney. I received Joana Starnes’s Twist of Fates from Rita Deodato in Portugal. I am delighted to add this 5-star read to my shelves as I read and reviewed the novel in ebook when it released this past summer.
Prosperity and Good Luck in 2022
Every New Year I serve Hoppin’ John for our main meal, our family tradition that started with my mother back in Delaware. Black-eyed peas were native to Africa and this humble little bean came to North America aboard slave ships. I don’t know how they got associated with New Year's, but I’ve read that black-eyed peas were a staple during the period of Reconstruction in the American South. Black-eyed peas are also culturally significant for Sephardic Jews celebrating Rosh Hashana. Sometime after the Civil War, Hoppin' John became a symbol of prosperity and good luck in the new year.
A time for renewal is just around the corner, and 2021 will pass into the history books. A new year, new resolutions, and the future awaits.
"Praise the God of all, drink the wine, let the world be the world."—French proverb
Wishing you and yours good luck and a healthy, prosperous 2022.
