From: afpaeji@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (JIM PAE)
Subject: Re: ATWT: Trees
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Keywords:  doom, gloom
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Date: 11 Jan 1993 09:38 EST  

In article <1993Jan8.211127.25934@walter.bellcore.com>, semele@oscar.bellcore.com (Semele Halkedis) writes...

[An incredibly confusing bunch of >, --, ., and stuff deleted]

  Don't they know what bad luck it is
>|> >|> to leave your Christmas tree up past New Year's Eve?
>|> >                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|> (And it's bad luck to wash on New Year's Day, too.

I'm confused.  Does this mean wash dishes, or laundry, or YOURSELF? If it 
is the latter, I think I would push my luck and hope everyone else I was 
close to did the same.  If it actually was bad luck, at least we would all 
go down together.  Misery loves company!

>|> --A more knowledgeable citizen, but still not willing to tempt the fates
>                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
>I must agree - it's very dangerous to tempt the fates.  But there must
>be different fates living in the north than in the south.  I don't think
>northeners have any special requirements for New Year's Day.  We
>Greeks do, though.  We make a special sweet bread called vasilopita, 
>which is baked with a coin underneath.  On New Year's Day, the head of
>the household cuts a piece for St. Basil, one for the house, and one
>for each member of the family.  Whoever gets the coin gets good luck for 
>the year (you can't spend it though - that's veeeery bad).  If the house or St.
>Basil gets the coin, then everyone gets good luck.  As far as I know 
>we don't have any restrictions on washing.
> 
>Anybody else have special New Year traditions?
> 
>GGG

Well, at my house, we place a silver dollar outside on New Year's Eve scuh
that the moon will pass over it.  This is supposed to bring you prosperity 
and good fortune in the upcoming year.  

Also, when my sister and I were younger, we would spend New Year's Eve at 
my grandmother's house (my folks were strangely absent every year). Anyhow, 
at the stroke of midnight, we were never allowed to open the door and whoop 
it up or blow noisemakers.  You may be asking yourself, but gee, tooTALL, 
why not?  Funny you should ask that.  Gram used to tell us a story about 
Helen Cunchelly, a little Bohemian girl from my grandmother's neighborhood 
when she was growing up.  One New Year's Eve, midnight struck and Helen 
went outside to celebrate.  All around her, men were shooting off their 
guns toasting in the New Year with a bang (literally).  Well, poor little 
Helen was shot from a stray bullet.  She lived and she was fine, but Gram 
always told us never to go outside or we'd get shot.  Living in suburbia 
around northeast Ohio, it wasn't very likely, but who knows.  Maybe I 
wouldn't be in the Ward today if it wasn't for Gram.  

Ahh, to be young again.

tooTALL
-------------------------+++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------
Jim Pae                              " I know I'm different, but from now
afpaeji@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov           on I'll try to be the same."
                                         -- Barbra Streisand, 
                                            "What's Up Doc?"
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