A New Year

Now that I am in the South, I ate black eyed peas this January 1st - a Southern custom for “Good Luck” in a New Year.

Legend has it that when Union troops scoured the South at the end of the Civil War, they disdained black eyed peas as not worth eating; thus leaving them in the fields as a staple for Southerners.

Some people eat them with Collard or Turnip Greens - the peas representing coins, and the greens representing “green backs” (dollar bills).

I ate mine (for breakfast!) with ham. Not as sweet as an English Muffin with Jam, but rich in protein!

And as the day progressed I was reminded of a great Sidney Carter song (below). Perfect for the New Year.







One more step along the world I go,
One more step along the world I go;
From the old things to the new
Keep me travelling along with you.

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.


Round the corner of the world I turn,
More and more about the world I learn;
All the new things that I see
You’ll be looking at along with me:

As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me travelling the way I should;
Where I see no way to go
You’ll be showing me the way I know.

Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving when the world is tough;
Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me travelling along with you.

You are older than the world can be,
You are younger than the life in me;
Ever old and ever new,
Keep me travelling along with you.

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