Both of us have eaten collards and blackeyed peas before, mind you, but neither of us had ever bothered to eat them on New Year's Day. To Southern minds, this is rather like going to one’s local polling place on election day but not bothering to vote.
Eating blackeyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day in the American South is a long-standing tradition, probably dating back to the Civil War (a.k.a. the Late Unpleasantness), which ended in 1865, more than 150 years ago. This is considered a long time in America, but it's only yesterday to those of you who can trace your family back to the reign of Ethelred the Unready. Eating collard greens and blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day is said to bring one not only good luck during the year but also lots of money. The collards represent paper money and the blackeyed peas represent coins. Collard greens taste terrible unless they are cooked with ham or served with vinegar, or both, but it is actually blackeyed peas that usually taste like paper money. We don't believe the superstition but we decided to join in the fun.
I thought these “seasoned Southern style” blackeyed peas were quite good, however, although a blogger friend tells me that Glory brand is toxic. I guess that’s why ice cream comes in both chocolate and vanilla. I didn't enjoy the canned chopped collard greens at all. I prefer fresh collards to canned. (Note. I don't care for turnip greens or mustard greens at all, nor is cornbread something I dream about, long for, or drool at the thought of. (Gracious, what a lot of prepositions.) Maybe I am not a true Southerner yet even though I have lived here in Texas, Florida, and Georgia for most of my life. I can hear some of you saying “Well, Texas isn’t the South, it’s the Southwest“ but it seceded, if that’s any qualification. The non-southern years of my life include six years in Rhode Island, three years in Nebraska, and three years in New York.)
We did something else during the last week of 2019 that should help qualify us as Southern in the minds of the unconvinced. While visiting our daughter's family in Alabama, we set foot on the campus of Auburn University for the very first time. In the distance in the photograph below is the oldest part of the campus including historic Samford Hall, now the Administration Building:
That is not a black-and-white picture. It was taken looking directly into the sun about four in the afternoon, not the best time to try to take a photograph. If you enlarge the photo and look closely at a sign near the opposite corner, you will see that it is indeed a color photo. I was standing in front of Toomers Corner, where Auburn fans go to have a lemonade after a home football victory.
Here's proof:
On November 30, 2019, Auburn (War Eagle!) defeated the University of Alabama (Roll, Tide!) 48-45 in this season's Iron Bowl. Auburn's stadium, better known locally as Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium, seats 87,000 people. Here's an aerial view of it empty.
Toomers Corner was quite busy on November 30th.
This is my 1803rd post. 1803 was the year Thomas Jefferson, America’s third President, purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States.
This is Thomas Jefferson:
This isn't.
