As I type these words, it is Thursday the 12th of March which leads to……Friday, the 13 of March. Am I superstitious about that? Yes, and no.

For as long as I have been aware, it seems to me, people have warned about Friday the 13th being an unlucky day and for as long as I’ve been aware, nothing particularly untoward has happened to me or members of my family on Friday the 13th. But, I’ve always been aware, on Friday the 13th, that it is an ‘unlucky’ day.

The same goes for doing a load of washing on New Year’s Day. Before Veronica married her first husband, David, I had never heard that doing washing on New Year’s Day would mean that I am ‘washing a member of my family away’! This was something passed on from Veronica’s ma-in-law and which Veronica passed on to me. Now, I tend to keep the day clear of housework of any sort – mainly because I dislike housework but also because….well, just in case, you know, I love members of my family, and want to keep them safe – although of course, I don’t believe the superstition!

Walking under ladders is another superstition I’ve known since I was a child (and I was a child, once upon a time!) Now, I am grown up enough to realise that walking under a ladder could be dangerous, particularly if someone is standing on the top rung of the ladder, reaching a bit too far just to paint that last little bit of window sill and they tip over and fall on you – or the ladder falls on you – or the pot of paint falls on you. Mostly, though, I walk under any ladder I see that’s in my path, just to prove I’m not superstitious!

In America I was taught to ‘knock on wood’ when discussing something that I hoped would happen. This had to change when I came to England – now I ‘touch wood’ to get what I want – except I very rarely do. And, I am completely mixed up as to whether a black cat crossing one’s path is lucky or unlucky. It’s lucky in one country and unlucky in the other and I don’t remember which is which. I especially like black cats and would always feel lucky to see one, whether crossing my path or sitting in a warm and sunny spot somewhere.

Magpies, umbrellas, salt and mirrors all seem to have superstitions associated with them and that’s before you find out about what’s lucky or not in other cultures besides the US or UK. I’ve just seen that in Italy Friday the 17th is unlucky and in South Korea you could die if you leave a fan on in your bedroom over night!

So – am I superstitious? In some ways I have to admit, I am, if only because I still think about the superstitions associated with dates or things like cats and ladders but, on the other hand, if I had to wash a shirt or some socks on the 1st of January or go without, I would probably get out the detergent and do a bit of hand-washing because, for the approximately fifty years of my life before I knew of the superstition, I probably washed many loads of clothes without anything nasty happening to any members of my family.