January in the SC Lowcountry: Food for the soul, birds, camellias and pansies

January comes in with New Year’s, one of the oldest holidays still celebrated, even though it has become a holiday associated with relationships and other activities such as fireworks and food instead of a staunch religious celebration.

January is named for the Roman god Janus, protector of gates and doorways, who is depicted with two faces, one looking into the past and the other into the future. Maybe that’s why I have such good memories of my past and always hopeful for the future, since I’m a January baby.

Here’s a “Puzzle of the Month” for you: “Soon as I’m made, I’m sought with care, for one whole year consulted. That time elapsed, I’m thrown aside, neglected and insulted.” What am I?

(Answer, spelled backwards: “canamla.”)

I couldn’t resist using this puzzle, found in the January 2019 “Old Farmers Almanac.” In 1792, Robert B. Thomas, bookseller, school teacher and amateur astronomer began a North American institution when he published the first issue of his Farmer’s Almanac. (The word “Old” was added in 1832.)

He distinguished his almanac from all others, writing in one of the early issues: “We must strive always to be useful, with a pleasant degree of humor.” That timeless formula has made the Old Farmer’s Almanac an indispensable reference for generations of readers.

January’s list of birthdays of famous people include: Isaac Newton, Alexander Hamilton, novelist Jack London, inventor Ben Franklin, Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Patriot statesman John Hancock, to name a few. But no listings of many “non-famous” folks born on Jan. 13, including the one mentioned in this article.

Of course, New Year’s Day always brings to the table the traditional special first dinner of the year, consisting of all the foods that are to bring good luck, good health and wealth. These foods consist of dried peas, collard greens, fresh pork and cornbread. The peas can be black eyes or cowpeas cooked with a hog jowl and rice to become a dish known as Hoppin’ John, or cooked separately to serve on rice.

The peas represent pocket change such as pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, whereas the collard greens cooked up with some fatback or streak ’o lean stands for greenbacks, as in currency, the larger the denomination the better.

Naturally, some folks have to be different, so I altered my meal to include Crockpot-cooked turkey necks, (albeit secondarily to chicken as a white meat), mustard greens instead of collards, and ole-timey delicious field peas with snaps — hoping this doesn’t mess around with my good luck, health and wealth stigma.

But actually I’m thinking: “Move over, Nutrisystem and Weight Watcher’s diet activists, because my ‘New 2020’ watch-my-weight-plan will include tender Crockpot turkey necks and mustard greens, low on calories but high in protein and fiber.”

Also, getting mustard greens, collard greens or kale from the Sanders family’s Okatee River Brand Produce on S.C. 170 always fits the bill when it comes to freshness and taste.

Turkey necks are perfect to indulge in on a cold winter day. Known as a Southern-style soul food, they are high in amino acid tryptophan, a building block of the brain compound serotonin, a sleep inducer. So you might be hankering for a little nap after one of these meals.

January also brings in droves of Cedar Waxwing birds around my house. These small, brownish-gray birds with a pale, yellow belly, a spot of red on their wing tip and a line of yellow across the tip of their tail feathers fly in clusters, all at once. They group in cedar trees, which line an open field on my property.

They fill up on berries, then, almost like they have a lead “maestro,” rise in a swarm, fly and land in the top of my Sweetgum trees, which are barren of leaves this time of year, and poop berry droppings on all the outdoor wooden furniture that will require a power washing before summer. However, they are beautiful birds — one of a kind.

Another January visitor in the bird family are Pelicans that return to sit atop the pierheads of the private docks at Stoney Creek, the headwaters of the May River. The Pelicans are mostly the fuzzy, white-headed, non-breeding and juvenile Brown Pelicans.

Some of January’s dependable flowers in the home garden are camellias and pansies that seem to thrive in the colder temperatures. Camellias, also called Japonicas, come in many varieties and colors that can provide a garden with color from November to April simply by staggering their planting times.

Pansies, bless their hearts, are colorful little flowers with “faces.” They are a favorite of mine, planted in border beds or containers for perky color anywhere needed. They prefer cooler temps and tend to become‘leggy as summer’s heat sets in.

January also ushers in “Old Christmas,” Jan. 6, which was celebrated centuries ago. It’s a date unknown to a lot of folks, but still recognized by many, including Amish communities that celebrate the date that is exactly 12 days after the traditional Gregorian calendar Christmas of Dec. 25.

It has been witnessed and believed by folks of older age that cattle kneel down and bellow exactly at midnight on the eve of Old Christmas, and deer have been seen playing and cavorting around as if they have supernatural powers.

A couple of years ago this old Kentucky poem about Old Christmas ran in the Appalachian Magazine:

“They’s heaps o’folks here still believe,

On Christmas — that’s Old Christmas — Eve,

The elders bloom upon the ground,

And critters low and kneel around,

In every stall, though none I know

Has seen them kneel, or heard them low.”

To each his own ... belief, that is!

Jean Tanner may be reached at jstmeema@hargray.com.