I know I have mentioned it before here, but just in case you have forgotten, when it comes to the most superstitious of professions, NICU nurses come second only to Major League Baseball pitchers. You’ll never hear a NICU nurse announce that it is quiet in the unit…unless if their census is so low that no one seems to be working much at all…ahem…you know like how it has been really quiet in my unit for like weeks and weeks and even months. Tell a NICU nurse that L & D is expecting a maternal transport of a possibly laboring mother with 24 week twins and there will be two Giraffe isolettes plugged in, warming up with admit kits and warming mattresses ready to go. The NICU RT, who can be almost as superstitious, will have two vents set up right next to the tandem Giraffes…and in most cases, the transport arrives and is stabilized to give birth another day hopefully weeks later. But since it has been weeks, even months since I could put my own NICU superstitious practices to work I need to put my mojo into practice elsewhere or it might just wither up and die from lack of use.

Today is a new day in a brand new, shiny year. Hand-wringing over ancient Mayan calendars be damned, I am determined that 2012 will be better than 2011 or 2010 or 2009 or even 2008…I need a year with the promise of consistent good…dammit.!I could use some good fortune for a change. So I resolve…there it is, my one and only New Year’s resolution…to make my own luck…starting now.

The Boss once said, “When it comes to luck, you make your own.” so this year I’m thinking I’m going to get on that. No I don’t presume the lore of the Deep South that having black-eyed peas and greens for New Year’s Dinner is going to bring me luck but then again why not start the new year off with some positive symbolism? It is commonly believed that when Sherman and his troops were marching through the South during the Civil War they did not destroy crops of “field peas” because they were regarded as only animal fodder rather than food or a cash crop. Oh them Damn Yankees! The story goes that because of this those black-eyed peas were considered to bring good fortune…or at least food in their bellies.

The traditional meal also features greens and pork or ham along with cornbread. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. I’m down with that…a delicious meal full of the promise of good things to come…I know a full satisfied belly is guaranteed and that is a good start. I found this great recipe over at Homesick Texan for Good Fortune Soup and  thought I could definitely make me a pot of good fortune like that. Seriously, this was an easy, flavorful dish and the perfect family meal for the first dinner of the New Year. I added some cornbread and it was perfection.

Collard greens for hope and wealth, the black-eyed peas for good fortune, pork so you can live high on the hog; throw in some cornbread, which is good for gold, and you’ve got a heart-warming, belly-satisfying, most fortunate meal for New Year’s Day. Now bring on the rest of the year!