>Vasilopeta… and Burying Saint Joseph in skirt! Magazine

Happy New Year! And Blessed Feast of Saint Basil! Tonight I went to Great Vespers at St. John Orthodox Church, where we commemorated Saint Basil the Great. His Feast Day is January 1. He’s my husband’s patron saint. I baked the Vasilopita. It’s also called Saint Basil’s Bread or Cake. You can read about the tradition here.

There’s a coin hidden inside… whoever cuts the piece with the coin in it will have good luck for the New Year. Adam Van Drimmelen found it tonight. Many years, Adam! We had a joyous potluck celebration after Vespers. Came home early … around 9:30 or so. To share a bottle of champagne and watch the end of the Auburn-Clemson game and the New Year’s Eve shows on TV. Good thing it’s January 1 in New York City an hour earlier than in Memphis. We can go to sleep now. You know you’re old when….

And speaking of luck… the January issue of skirt! Magazine hits the stands today, and the theme is “luck.” My essay, “Burying Saint Joseph” is on page 14. It’s sort of an anti-luck piece. About the tradition of burying a statue of Saint Joseph in order to help your house sell. Yes, our house is on the market. No, I’m not burying any statues. I like the art work they put with the essay.

You can read “Burying Saint Joseph” here … and you can find skirt! at over 300 newsstands all over Memphis… and Charleston and Knoxville and Birmingham and Atlanta and Houston and Augusta and Jacksonville and Savannah and Boston and Richmond and Hampton Road and Charlotte and Greensboro.

I found my copy near the Starbucks on Poplar at Prescott this morning. A latte and a skirt!… perfect way to start the day.

Okay, at 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day we’ll be watching the Outback Bowl and seeing if we can find our daughter Beth in the sea of orange…. She went to Tampa with a friend. Called today to say they spent the day at the beach. 70 degrees on December 31. sigh. She’s in grad school at the University of Tennessee, and is a big sports fan. We’ll be watching for you, Beth. Go Vols!