The SheCropper

05/18/2025

Those being abused often try to get their partner to change. We. Cannot. Make. Another. Person. Change. https://carolineabbott.com/2020/07/how-can-i-get-my-abuser-to-change/

04/21/2024

02/11/2024

12/29/2023

Why do Southerners eat Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day?
The story of the Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas as the first meal on New Year's Day is generally believed to date back to the winter of 1864 - 1865.
When Union General William T. Sherman led his invading troops on their destructive march through Georgia, the fields of black-eyed peas were largely left untouched because they were deemed fit only for animals.
The Union foragers took everything, plundered the land, and left what they could not take, burning or in shambles.
But two things did remain, the lowly peas and good Ol’ Southern salted pork.
As a result, the humble yet nourishing black-eyed peas saved surviving Southerners - mainly women, children, elderly and the disabled veterans of the Confederate army - from mass starvation and were thereafter regarded as a symbol of good luck.
The peas are said to represent good fortune. Certainly the starving Southern families and soldiers were fortunate to have those meager supplies.
According to the tradition and folklore, the peas are served with several other dishes that symbolically represent good fortune, health, wealth, and prosperity in the coming year.
Some folks still traditionally cook the black-eyed peas with a silver dime in the pot as a symbol of good fortune.
Greens represent wealth and paper money. Any greens will do, but in the South the most popular are collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, and cabbage.
Cornbread - a regular staple among Southerners in the absence of wheat - symbolizes gold and is very good for soaking up the juice from the greens on the plate.
You should always have some cornbread on hand in your kitchen anyway. Good for dinner and in the morning with syrup.
Pork symbolizes bountiful prosperity, and then progressing into the year ahead. Ham and hog jowls are typical with the New Year meal, though sometimes bacon will be used, too. Pigs root forward, so it’s the symbolic moving forward for the New Year.
Tomatoes are often eaten with this meal as well. They represent health and wealth.
So reflect on those stories when you sit down at your family table and enjoy this humble, uniquely Southern meal every New Year’s Day. Be thankful for what this year did give you in spite of the bad, and hope and pray for better days that are coming ahead for you.
This was what your Southern Kinfolk did and reflected upon every year.
We wanted to share these traditions with our friends not from the South.

12/24/2023

Throw the glove down!!!!

12/08/2023

THINGS TO TEACH YOUR SON

1. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.

2. Don’t enter a pool by the stairs.

3. The man at the BBQ Grill is the closest thing to a king.

4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.

5. Request the late check-out.

6. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.

7. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.

8. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.

9. Play with passion or don’t play at all…

10. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look them in the eye.

11. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

12. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.

13. Carry two handkerchiefs. The one in your back pocket is for you. The one in your breast pocket is for her.

14. You marry the girl, you marry her family.

15. Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.

16. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.

17. Never be afraid to ask out the best looking girl in the room.

18. Never turn down a breath mint.

20. Try writing your own eulogy. Never stop revising.

22. Eat lunch with the new kid.

23. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.

24. Ask your mom to play. She won’t let you win.

25. Manners maketh the man.

26. Give credit. Take the blame.

27. Stand up to Bullies. Protect those bullied.

28. Write down your dreams.

29. Take time to snuggle your pets, they love you so much and are always happy to see you.

30. Be confident and humble at the same time.

31. If ever in doubt, remember whose son you are and REFUSE to just be ordinary!

32. In all things lead by example not explanation.

33. Dress how you want to be addressed

34. BE BLESSED BY BEING A BLESSING

Author Unknown

12/04/2023