As I get older I’ve taken a turn for the boring where New Year is concerned. As a child, I was anxious to stay up late and ring in the New Year. Dreams of elaborate, elegant parties in beautiful dresses, with champagne and confetti pouring all night, kissing my dream man at the stroke of midnight, by a pianist playing Auld Land Syne on a black Grand Piano. Then walking the streets hand in hand as revelers passed wishing us Happy New Year everyone all smiles and well wishes.
As a teen I was able to stay up late to ring in the new year. No elaborate parties, just a family gathering where Non-alcoholic grape bubbly was served along with Cherries Jubilee, black-eyed peas and other foods I would only eat on New Years.
In my college years I stayed up late on New Years Eve, working. Yes, every New Year for 4 years I was sitting inside the Community Center on my life guard stand watching a bunch of teens swimming and enjoying themselves on New Years Eve. At the stroke of midnight, Steve (who also had to work) and I would run into the hallway, a quick “Happy New Year” peck and back to our stations. Our food of the evening? If the chaperones thought about it, we had pizza. If not, we had whatever was in the vending machine. Still no elegant parties……..but at Mom’s always ham with black-eyed peas.
After I graduated from college and moved to Myrtle Beach, we went clubbing until the New Year came in. Going home smelling of the club we had just left, smoke and stale beer. Ick. Oh, no food too lazy to cook for myself, feeling guilty because I just knew my New Year was going to be awful because I didn’t have any black-eyed peas.
Where were the elegant parties? The ones I saw on tv as a child? I guess they are still on the tv being watched by some other young kid with dreams of romance on New Years Eve. After I moved back to the beautiful state of Virginia, New Years Eve was spent on the ski slopes, then bouncing from house party to house party bored out of my head and waiting as each minute drag by to the New Year. Slowly my New Years Eve revelry dissipated to sitting at home watching the ball drop then lighting sparklers to ring in the New Year. Texting, “Happy New Year” to a few people then going to bed. Dinner? Left overs, but always black-eyed peas.
In case you’ve missed the theme, Black-eyed peas. I’ve never had the movie themed New Year I dreamed of as a kid, probably because it doesn’t exist, but I’ve almost always had Black-eyed peas. So my favorite New Year traditional food is…….. Black-eyed peas.
http://newyears.noo.com/ Picture credit. This site in no way is endorsing the website from whom the pictures is credited.
HeyPaw 
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