Happy Valentine’s Day!
To all my ever-loving readers:
Did you receive anything? Did you give those you love anything? Do you consider this day just an excuse for the greeting card, chocolate, and flower industries to coax us in a rather unsubtle way to buy more stuff (not that there’s anything wrong with that)? Do people (mostly women, I’d imagine) get too demanding on this day? Is it a burden rather than a pleasure? Or do you love, love, love it?
I have an odd relationship to Valentine’s Day. It just so happens that, completely through chance and unrelated to the holiday, I’ve had some hard experiences on that day in the past. So I have no particular affection for it for historical reasons. Plus, as those who read here regularly probably know, for the last couple of decades I’ve been unable to eat chocolate without getting a migraine. Waahh! Woe is me!
But there used to be a wonderful Valentine’s Day candy that I’d look forward to all year: smallish sugar-coated red pectin hearts that were bright in color, cherry in flavor, and achingly, meltingly soft although with a slight toothsome resistance at the same time.
In short, they were perfect. And in due time, they stopped making them. Oh, you still can find cherry jelly hearts galore, but no pectin ones without those little nonpareil thingees on each heart, spoiling the delectable softness with their crunch.
[NOTE: This is a slightly-updated version of a previous post.]
In general, I think Valentine’s Day is one of the many which are overrated by retail outlets and Hallmark cards. I can do without the uproar, and I don’t even have any bad experiences to report. In grade school the teachers made students give Valentines to everybody in the class.
I went to the store this morning and bought some fresh cherries. That’s it!
I said to my wife this morning, “Happy Valentines Day”, she said, “Oh I guess it is.” Forty years of marriage does that 🙂 We then went on to discuss ongoing financing of building the new house.
I have a general hard time getting worked up over any holiday. Fortunately I have wife who is the same, except for Christmas; she likes it a lot more than I do.
My singular 2/14 experience was that I was born. Lobster tail ce soir!
I’m a hardliner who refuses to even acknowledge what I call ‘Hallmark holidays’ – today, mothers day, etc. My conscience is untroubled, so I’m obviously a lost cause!
Le Mot Juste,
Happy Birthday!!
Since Valentine’s Day is about loving relationships, especially marriage, here are a few sayings that pertain to such:
Whether a man winds up with a nest egg, or a goose egg, depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.
Trouble in marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earning “his salt” that he forgets his sugar.
Too many couples marry for better, or for worse, but not for good.
When a man marries a woman, they become one; but the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
If a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never turn into an old nag.
On anniversaries (or Valentine’s Day), the wise husband always forgets the past – but never the present.
A foolish husband says to his wife, “Honey, you stick to the washing’, ironing’, cooking’ and scrubbing’. No wife of mine is gonna “work”.”
Many girls like to marry a military man – he can cook, sew, make beds, is in good health, and he’s already used to taking orders.
Author unknown, but pretty wise advice, even if you don’t care for commercialized special days.
Happy Valentine’s Day. 🙂
I bought a card yesterday. Not a particular fancy card. $5.99. When it scanned, I said out loud, “Holy s**t!” The guy next to me hard me and said, “I know. Right?” Six bucks for a CARD!
BTW, I’d forgotten about this hearts. They were good. Another loss to Big Food. Sigh…
My husband forgot for the first time in eleven years. So he got me a chocolate bar in a flavor he already knew I wouldn’t like.
Hier bin ich Mensch, hier darf ich’s sein
So won’t you be my Valentine?
Nothing wrong with a day specifically dedicated to spreading the love, IMO! The world sure does need more of that! But yes, unless 2/14 also happens to be a birthday or important anniversary, for an adult to get worked up about the quality of gifts is a bit silly!
My husband and I celebrate the day after Valentine’s, when the leftover chocolate goes on sale. He gets up early to scavenge as much as possible, then we wait for our next holiday, the day after Easter.
I bought my wife flowers and she bought me a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon. We’ll go out to dinner later this week.
Lee Also- don’t feel bad, when they scanned my card it was $7.50!
Kate, Cherries from Chile? That’s where the Cherries we just bought were from.
Got my Wife of almost 54 yr a Card. No candy this yr because she said no. I use to get the big Russel Stover Hearts the day after too.
The price of chocolate is out of sight. RS use to be 16 oz then to 12 and now to 9.4 oz for same size box.
Went whole hog this year. Love Pop cards and flowers to my girls and new girlfriend.
If people here aren’t familiar with Love Pop, check them out on the web.
The Birthday Badger Sends Respectful Birthday Greetings To Le Mot Juste!
Having been married 41+ years we long ago abandoned any elaborate, and pricey, Valentine’s Day celebration. Some years we make a special menu and cook and dine together, others we go out, last year, because of Covid, we got takeout. It is really just an excuse to do something together and a bit different than our day to day routine.
This year my wife left for FL today, there is a big family gathering next weekend to celebrate her mom’s birthday. She’s there early to help get everything arranged. So we did our Valentine’s Day thing on Saturday. The day’s high temperature hit 54 degrees so we went for a walk on the local beach (Maine) and then had a nice dinner at an Italian plane we’ve been meaning to try. Went home and watched a cheesy romcom. I gave her flowers (roses) and she gave me a bottle of 12 year Tomatin single malt.
SHIREHOME, yes, cherries from Chile. They’re good. I also got some Mexican blueberries, which often taste better than the ones from South America.
Kate,
Blueberries come from Michigan. Everything else is a pale pretender. 😉
Regula Mühlemann and Friend have something to sing about. In German.
Pa- pa- pa-… und so weiter und so fort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgdLSROTtgA
Rufus and Scott: Gracias, efkaristo, danke and merci. And thanks!
I had a nice day. A good friend came to town for the day. We went for a brief sightseeing drive during which I commented on some of the nicer bits of downtown Albany, then to lunch at a Korean place, then coffee and dessert at a different place, then shopping at the mall, and finally Greek coffee prepared by me at my place (of which she was for some reason extremely complimentary). I had flowers and dark chocolate ready in advance of the day and spent several hours in the morning cleaning, which I think will stand me in good stead for a while.
Rufus, have you ever been to blueberry country?
A quiet and very sweet Valentines here. We did what we always do — buy each other a card and write a poem or literary quote in the card that is about love in some sense. I very much enjoyed the poem I received —
For an Amorous Lady
By Theodore Roethke
Most mammals like caresses, in the sense in which we
usually take the word, whereas other creatures, even tame
snakes, prefer giving to receiving them.
— From a Natural-History Book
The pensive gnu, the staid aardvark,
Accept caresses in the dark;
The bear, equipped with paw and snout;
Would rather take than dish it out.
But snakes, both poisonous and garter,
In love are never known to barter;
The worm, though dank, is sensitive:
His noble nature bids him give.
But you, my dearest, have a soul
Encompassing fish, flesh, and fowl.
When amorous arts we would pursue,
You can, with pleasure, bill or coo.
You are, in truth, one in a million,
At once mammalian and reptilian.
Phillip Sells,
It sounds like you’re hoping your visitor may grow to be more than a friend…
I hope the day went well!
That’s clever, Jeanne!
Violets are blue,
Chrysanthemums are red,
Roses are $50 a dozen,
Why not dandelions instead?
Rufus, that’s a cute verse. I have a small collection of those that I wrote in a burst of Valentine’s Day doggerel once years ago; have been hoping for a chance to use some of them someday. As for the hope to which you refer, that subject was on the table between us a few years ago, but the ship has, for better or worse, sailed in the meantime. Still, it was a very nice day, yes.
Jeanne, your selection was appealing, too.
“… for better or worse…”
Interesting choice of words.