It’s 2012

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By Diane Forrest,

Happy New Years!  Well it is finally here, 2012.  It is a day for new beginnings, out with the old.  The beginning of the New Year is depicted by the "retirement" of father time and the birth of baby new year.   This is celebrated at nearly every hospital across the country.  It was always an exciting time at my hospital to see when the first baby of the year would be born.  The hospital would gather gifts and prizes from local merchants and wait in anticipation for baby New Year.

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Another famous tradition of the day is the Rose Bowl Parade.  Every year I would love to watch the parade, see the fantastic floats and energetic horses.  These people are very serious about their parade, and the rules and regulations are very strict.  People who participate in the float building process begin planning them the day after the parade, and work on it all year long.

Another holiday tradition is the making of a Resolution.  A resolution is a commitment a person makes to accomplish a goal to better their life.  Some common resolutions include:

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A traditional New Year's Day dinner at my home included black eyed peas for luck and greens for money. In the Southern United States, it's traditional to eat black-eyed peas or cowpeas in a dish called hoppin' john. There are even those who believe in eating one pea for every day in the New Year. This all traces back to the legend that during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas and the legume were thereafter considered lucky.  The Dutch consider it lucky to eat donuts, or any round food, they consider it to symbolize coming full circle.

What not to eat, or foods considered unlucky, are lobsters, because the walk backward, and chicken, because the scratch backward, and this symbolizes moving backwards, instead of forward in the New Year.

No matter how you choose to celebrate the New Year, whether it is spending time with friends and family, watching the parade and football games, or even nursing a hangover, We would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

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