New Year's day on the farm has changed. It use to be about getting the chores done quickly in the morning, then catching the Tournament of Roses Parade on TV. While that was happening, Mom would be busy in the kitchen creating a variety of foods that would last into the evening. We could hear the pots and pans banging from time to time. The sound was soothing on a cold winter's day. We knew that someone was working hard to make our lives just a little bit better.
It was a day of laughter and lounging and foraging in the kitchen. We would munch, snack, devour throughout the afternoon with no set "sit down and eat" time. All the while college Bowl games could be heard throughout the lower level of the house. We would huddle around the tube placing silly non-redeemable bets on the outcome of the Rose Bowl. We would cheer when our team scored, and quickly switch to another network during commercials to see what was happening in the Cotton Bowl. Then it was back to the Roses.
Sometime later the "Chores before sundown" would be taken care of and we'd be back for more football in the cozy confines of a well-worn arm chair with a plate full of snacks. At the end of the day I would be stuffed and satisfied. It was perhaps the only day of the year in which I could honestly say that I didn't want to watch any more football and I didn't want to eat another piece of cheese.
We don't have cable or satellite TV on Hillsong Farm. Today we didn't have a lot of football playing on our television. It leaves me wondering how we could have allowed ESPN and the NCAA to wreck such a wonderful tradition?
