I hope everyone made it through yesterday, "Friday the 13th," without any serious mishaps.  However, if something did go wrong, you know why - it was because of the day, the 13th day falling on a Friday.
     I did a little research and found out that in China, the number 4 is very unlucky.
     Superstitions vary from one country to another - a black cat crossing your path in U. S. is considered bad luck, but if you are in Japan or the U.K. and a black feline crosses your path, it's considered good luck.
     I bring up superstitions about Friday the 13th because my mother was born on October 13, 1908, which was a Tuesday; however, she worried every time her birthday fell on Friday.  She worried about other superstitions, like seating 13 at a table.  Never happened in her household  - there would be a separate table for some of the guests.  
     We had a Christmas cactus plant that had been in her family for many years.  It was well known among her sisters, the McAllan girls, that the plant bloomed whenever one of the family was seriously ill or dying. I don't know if it bloomed when my Grandmother McAllan died, but it stayed with my grandfather after he remarried.  It had to be removed from his second wife's sick room because it was blooming out of season.  My Grandfather McAllan came to live with us around 1937, and brought the plant with him.  It continued to bloom from time to time, and because there was a large family of both Boltons and McAllans, it wasn't a stretch to connect its flowering to someone's illness or a death.  It was in bloom when my grandfather died in May, and my mother finally said, Enough!  She took several slips from the old plant and put it in our windowless basement, to die.  
     Over the years, the second-generation plants flourished and bloomed only at Christmas, like they were supposed to.  One or two aunts asked for a plant, and after my mother passed away, I took the remaining, now very old cactus.  It's leggy and tough, but blooms only every Christmas.  I've started new, third-generation plants from it, somehow wanting to preserve it.  As long as the new plants continue to behave as they should and do not bloom out of season, they are welcome.  I do not want to be filled with dread at the sight of a beautiful pink bud forming in March or July.
     I don't really believe that first old cactus had supernatural powers to predict anything.  I'm pretty sure the blooming was triggered by light and temperature - somehow.  I remember how my mother reacted - her common sense telling her not to worry when it began to bud, but then we'd get news someone in the family was sick, and it was an "I could have told you so" moment.  My father always tried to counter her fears with his farmer's mind set, telling her the old plant had too much fertilizer (my mother watered it with tea) or it was probably crossed with some other plant species.  I'm sure she knew he was right, but I also know she was relieved after the original old plant was gone.  
    Superstitions are fun, but it's best not to let them rule your life.  I guess nearly everyone has certain things they watch out for - like walking under a ladder - that's only common sense, if you don't want to chance paint or a hammer falling on you.  I bet almost everyone has something they think is bad luck, like breaking a mirror, opening an umbrella inside the house or having a wild bird fly into the house.  And I bet there are people who search for four-leaf clovers, knock on wood, or toss salt over their shoulder for good luck.  Sometimes it's just best not to take unnecessary chances.