The year 2013 is off to a good start, although I’m somewhat skeptical about whether it will continue that way.

This is the first year in a long while that I haven’t eaten some black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. In these Ozark hills, eating hog jowl and black-eyed peas on Jan. 1 has been the traditional way to start a new year. That’s what was recommended to ensure one’s good fortune in the coming 12 months, and I’ve usually followed that advice. But I forgot to check the pantry before I did my grocery shopping at the end of December and, when the new year rolled around, not asingle black-eyed pea could I find at our house. We dined that evening on spaghetti and garlic bread, and I’m not sure that meal will be effective in bringing good luck!

There were other reasons why it didn’t seem like New Year’s Day. We slept late and didn’t watch any of the annual Rose Bowl parade, and we watched very little football that day. Jim’s been involved in watching Stargate movies lately and he was absorbed in them most of the day, while I was busy with my usual pastime, reading.

He’s been disappointed that most of the end-ofseason bowl games were televised on ESPN and hecouldn’t watch them, so we especially enjoyed being able to view the Cotton Bowl Friday night. Then we watched the Razorback basketball game Saturday night.

Football, feasting and parades. It all says New Year’s Day, American style. But other countries have their own particular rituals to usher in the new year. Venezuelans eat a bowl of lentil soup “for prosperity” and 12 peeled and seeded grapes, each representing a wish for the new year. Discarding the skin and seeds supposedly eliminates potential bitterness and obstacles.

In Haiti, natives often party all night long. The observance includes midnight mass, fireworks and often a bonfire. Everybody stands around the wood fire, dances, drinks and eats the traditional rice, beans and meat.

Nearly all countries use noisemakers to scare away evil spirits in the new year.Several countries, including Hungary, Venezuela and Ecuador, burn effigies, embodying evil or misfortune.

In Ecuador, it is a life-sized straw man, homemade and stuffed with rock salt. He represents all the bad things that have happened, all the ill feelings, bad memories and bad business of the old year. At midnight the revelers put him in the middle of the street, pour gasoline on him and burn him. The rock salt pops and explodes in the flames, creating a dangerous situation. With people crowding around and cheering, injuries are not uncommon and houses occasionally burn too.

Longtime newspaper columnist Fred Starr believed in eating the traditional New Year’s black-eyed peas, and he shared another Ozark tradition in his book “Climb The Highest Mountain.” In recounting the Ozark hillman’s year, Starr noted that he always “kept his weather-eye open.” Thefirst twelve days of January were believed to set the pattern for the entire year weather-wise - New Year’s Day for January, the second of January for February and so on through the calendar. “There was nothing in the almanac about such,” he said, “but his pa and ma said ‘twas so and that was proof aplenty.”

If that belief proves true we should see some more snow this month as we were treated to snow flurries here on the first day.

Fred Starr has long been one of my favorite writers. I always enjoyed his folksy columns and often find myself rereading his books, including “Of These Hills and Us,” where he does some lively reminiscing and makes references to a bygone era. He believes pills and tranquilizers are unnecessary to everyday living and, instead of relying on such artificial cures, folks should take advantage of nature’s relaxing and healingpowers. “What influence can be so inspiring and refreshing as a view from a hill or a leisurely stroll through a woodland?” he asks.

“Happiness does not depend upon a full pocketbook,” Starr writes, “but upon a mind full of rich thoughts and a heart full of rich emotions. Happiness does not depend upon what happens outside of you but what happens inside you; it is measured by the spirit in which you meet the challenge of each new day with the serene faith that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord.”

It’s old folk wisdom, written by an adopted son of these Ozarks almost a half-century ago, but it provides some hearty food for thought as we begin the new year.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 01/09/2013