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Favorite things about Valentine's Day.
Feb. 13th, 2005 03:54 pmFirst, I loved making cards. I still do, but now that I'm out of grade school, I've lost the oportunity to make them and hand them out "just because," So I haven't made them in a long time... But the love is still there. I loved coming up with creative ways of incorporating hearts into the design. When I was in the seventh grade, I made a Birthday/Valentine card for my father of layered construction paper, that showed someone walking over a snowy landscape at night, and his footprints in the snow were shaped like hearts. And that leads right into Reason #2:
Valentine's Day comes in the middle of February. I spent most of my time growing up in the Hudson Valley in New York State, and there, by the time February rolls around, winter has gotten old, in a very unpleasant way -- like an old uncle who smells of tobacco smoke and stale whisky, who came for a dinner party and refuses to leave. It's true that the days have gotten longer, there is actually discernable warmth in the sunlight, and the birds have started their twittering mating calls. But the snow is still on the ground, only now, it's more like boulders of frozen slush, and it's as grey and gravelly as the heart of a comet. Looking out the window is like looking at a black and white photograph that's a bit tattered and creased.
Then comes Valentine's Day, and flowers are everywhere -- bright red flowers, to boot. It always cheered me up in college to go into the mailroom and see all the bouquets that had been sent to sweethearts, waiting to be picked up... even if none of them were for me. All of those roses, carnations, baby's breath, daisies -- it was like a political protest against winter.
Third, Valentine's Day is unabashedly Pagan -- even though it's now named for a saint, and no longer called Lupercalia, there's little attempt to hide the fact that (for adults, at least), it's all about fertillity and sex, and surviving the winter. And, chubby and baby-like as he is today, the Roman god Cupid still watches over the day, and makes his presence known.
And finally, I love the heart shaped boxes of chocolate ... almost as much as I love the Chocolate inside. I love their not-squareness -- the way the roundness at the top contrasts with the corner at the bottom (and the top is fun too, in its own right -- it's like a circle decided to play a practical joke)I love their red velvetiness. And how their cardboard is so much more substanstial than other chocolate boxes. And they hold the scent of the chocolate long after the candy itself is gone.
Yes, Heart-Shaped Chocolate Boxes are very Good Things.
Valentine's Day comes in the middle of February. I spent most of my time growing up in the Hudson Valley in New York State, and there, by the time February rolls around, winter has gotten old, in a very unpleasant way -- like an old uncle who smells of tobacco smoke and stale whisky, who came for a dinner party and refuses to leave. It's true that the days have gotten longer, there is actually discernable warmth in the sunlight, and the birds have started their twittering mating calls. But the snow is still on the ground, only now, it's more like boulders of frozen slush, and it's as grey and gravelly as the heart of a comet. Looking out the window is like looking at a black and white photograph that's a bit tattered and creased.
Then comes Valentine's Day, and flowers are everywhere -- bright red flowers, to boot. It always cheered me up in college to go into the mailroom and see all the bouquets that had been sent to sweethearts, waiting to be picked up... even if none of them were for me. All of those roses, carnations, baby's breath, daisies -- it was like a political protest against winter.
Third, Valentine's Day is unabashedly Pagan -- even though it's now named for a saint, and no longer called Lupercalia, there's little attempt to hide the fact that (for adults, at least), it's all about fertillity and sex, and surviving the winter. And, chubby and baby-like as he is today, the Roman god Cupid still watches over the day, and makes his presence known.
And finally, I love the heart shaped boxes of chocolate ... almost as much as I love the Chocolate inside. I love their not-squareness -- the way the roundness at the top contrasts with the corner at the bottom (and the top is fun too, in its own right -- it's like a circle decided to play a practical joke)I love their red velvetiness. And how their cardboard is so much more substanstial than other chocolate boxes. And they hold the scent of the chocolate long after the candy itself is gone.
Yes, Heart-Shaped Chocolate Boxes are very Good Things.
