30 December 2012

Saying goodbye to 2012

Charleston at Christmas, Charleston, S.C.
One last Christmas picture before we say goodbye to the season. I am getting ready to make some tea and take the decorations of my tree this afternoon. Sniff. For a few days the house will look so empty.
What is your New Year's traditions? My family has a Scottish background and the one I like best is much more fun than the lowcountry tradition of eating Hopping John:  
First Footer: For optimum good luck, a dark-haired man should be first through your door in the New Year. If he’s handsome and single, so much the better. And it’s really lucky if he arrives on a horse! The man should bring symbolic gifts – some coins, a loaf of bread, a lump of coal for the fire, a branch of evergreen and salt. Ideally, the man will make his way through the house and leave by a different door.
If he happened to be very handsome, there is no hard and fast rule that he couldn't pause for awhile as he makes his way through the house. :)

5 comments:

Jack said...

That is a pretty house. I have gray hair so I will stay outside and hope you get lucky with a dark-haired man! Have a great 2012.

Jack said...

Uuuuhhhhhh, 2013.

Pixel Peeper said...

What a cool tradition!

I can't think of a New Year's tradition, but on New Year's Eve, people in Germany pour molten lead into a pot of water, where it then solidifies. You then try to guess what the shape is, which signifies what the new year will bring to that person. Needless to say, a lot of people like to interpret the shape as that of a wedding ring, or a baby, or a coin...

Happy New Year to you!

Charlestonjoan said...

That is a dramatic tradition! I like it! I've never heard of it before.

Charlestonjoan said...

Yep, I had to correct it too. That will take awhile. Happy New Year Jack and thanks for all the kind comments this year.