JANUARY 1
My mother, a native of Iredell County, North Carolina, had a superstition for every occasion. If I happened to scratch my nose, she’d say company was coming. If the woolly worm bugs had thick coats in the fall, it meant a harsh winter was on the way.
But her biggest bag of beliefs had to do with New Year’s Day. She called one of the male neighbors first thing on the first day of each year to ensure that he was our first visitor—it was bad luck if a woman was the first person through the door on the first day of the new year, Mama said.
She insisted on serving the traditional lucky foods of black-eyed peas and collard greens at New Year’s. And she insisted that her children eat them so the whole family would get lots of money in the coming year. She was specific: the black-eyed peas were for the “silver money,” Mama said, and the greens were for the “folding money.”
Not a black-eyed pea fan as a child, I would ask if I could just go for the big bills. No. The luck only works if they’re combined, she said. Never argue with an expert.