Goodbye to 2013...

 Today is breaking up Christmas at our house -- or at least, undecorating the tree so it can get hauled out of the house thereby helping us avoid bad luck in the coming year.
I know, it's different for lots of you -- some folks take the tree down Christmas night, some leave it up till January 6 . . . or April 1 . . . or whenever suits their fancy. Some people leave it up year round. Whatever works for you. We have cousins from Florida visiting and, if past years are any guide, we'll eat an excellent meal, drink quite a lot of sparkling wine, and probably fall asleep well before midnight, assuring ourselves that we are celebrating the New Zealand, Austrian, French, or English  New Year.
Tomorrow we'll eat greens to put money in our pockets and black-eyed peas and hog jowl for good luck -- another nod to our ancestors' traditions. 
Outside, it seems as if the new year is already underway...
I can't be sure but those green shoots just might be more saffron crocus...