So this friend of mine, when I was in my mid-teens, Joan, (whose family was from New Zealand), told me that on the first day of every month, the first words out of your mouth should be rabbits! Apparently, according to an old New Zealand custom, (or a 14 year old's imaginative mind), uttering this word first thing in the morning will bring you an abundant amount of good luck.
The story goes that on the morning of the first day, of a month I don't recall, as the California sun filled her room in which we both had been sleeping, our eyes open and as I look at her, I confidently say, "Rabbits!", to which she replies, "I know!!!", thus voiding her chance of good luck for the following 30 or so days. She glared at me over our cereal and didn't speak to me at all that morning as she feigned interest in Scooby Doo.
I mention this story because ever since she shared this odd tradition with me, I have at some point or another...on the first day of each month, whispered "Rabbits" in hopes of securing some of that luck that is looking for a place to land. I have shared this with my beloved husband, who, is suspicious of pretty much everything that looks like weird mumbo-jumbo, (especially when it calls for voicing out loud the name of a cute and innocent long eared, fuzzy tailed critter).
As I laid in bed tossing and turning a few moments ago, grumbling internally at what is obviously the beginnings of some sort of malaise, (sore throat, ear ache, stuffed sinus) which has me awake at 3 in the morning, my husband asks me a question. Now mind you, that this event took place just minutes ago, and I have already forgotten the question. It may have been, "Are you OK?", "Are you awake?", "Can't sleep?", "Do you really think Obama is going to win?"...to which, of course, I answered something...a word, maybe two...but definitely not "Rabbits!"...once again, slamming the door on that homeless luck...and, as apparent cosmic punishment, I sit here...in my studio, stuffed up and achy, awake at 3:56 in the morning, witnessing how bad my luck has gotten already on this the first day of October.
3 weeks ago
6 comments:
I'll say "rabbits" for you. How's that? Love, Mary
I love this story! (hope you feel better)
What a great story. Hope you are feeling better!
Great story. I see that your creative side really comes out in the wee hours of the morning. Let it flow!
I say "Rabbits,Rabbits,Rabbits" every month on the first day of the month first thing....:) learned it from a Jewish friend of mine about 10 years ago. Sometimes I think it works!
O.K. I think about this occasionally, too. When I was in Law School I rode the bus everyday [the 74 from Queen Anne Hill to the U-District]. A young woman with Down's Sydrome also rode the same bus everyday. Her name was Sarah and her mother would drop her off at the bus stop so she could bus to work in the U-District someplace. I figure Sarah was about 20 years old (maybe 25?) and her mother was 60-ish. Sarah and I would chat during our 15 minute busride. She told me that on the first day of the month the first words you say have to be "Rabbit Rabbit."
Sarah also saw me balancing my checkbook on the bus one day and she was appalled. She told me "that is so inappropriate" in a very worried voice. She would not calm down until I put my check book away. I think she had been taught that displaying your finances is a dangerous and unsafe behavior. It clearly made her very anxious, so I put my checkbook away!
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