It's That Day Again. Valentines!

Joanna here, with the Wenches, talking Valentines Day and Romance and the cool things that mean love to us.

It's not always what you'd expect.

Anne, being both down-to-earth and so, so right, says:

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day. It only became popular in Australia after I was an adult, and it felt very commercial. I'm much more in favor of unscheduled expressions of love -- a spontaneous gift of chocolates or flowers or something else, a romantic dinner (where you're not jostling in a restaurant with a hundred other couples trying to look romantic), a romantic night in at any time of year, a love-letter that arrives randomly. Even a job that needs doing that's been put off for a while can be

Flowers. Oh yes

romantic -- in the right context. And words of love need to be spontaneous, not scheduled according to the calendar.

 

And while I love love love roses, I don't love the ones they sell for Valentine's. Beautiful, perfect-looking red roses -- without scent. To me that's a bit like a declaration of love without the emotion. I'd much rather a slightly raggedy bunch of roses from the garden, imperfect, but with a glorious scent. Or even not-roses. I have a friend who often arrives for a visit bearing a bunch of flowers from her garden -- one or two of each kind, nothing matching or "designer" but so vibrant and pretty and with a lovely meld of fragrances.

 

 

Pat gives us a lovely view of a warm holiday:

For a romance writer, I'm not very much into schmaltz or commercial holidays. I adored the sticky messy cards my children drew for me in grade school simply because they so much reflected their individual personalities and made me smile and cry at the same time.

But Valentine's Day is also my wedding anniversary, and that's worth celebrating. Our tradition is pretty simple, though. We pick out cards (usually e-cards we can adapt in our own words). My husband usually brings me lovely flowers, because it was always gray gloomy winter for most of our years, and he knows how much I love a bright bouquet to fight off gloom. And then we go out for an extravagant meal in a quiet restaurant we wouldn't normally go to.

Really, it's all about being together with the ones you love, isn't it? And that can be any time for any reason.

 

Andrea is not necessarily a fan of the commercial:

And isn't this a cool Valentine

As one whose teeth is often set on edge by all the “canned” commercial holly-jolly of the really traditional holidays, it’s no surprise that I’m not a big fan of manufactured holidays. It feels a little silly to feel compelled to buy a fancy gift and make reservations at some, swanky expensive—and likely overcrowded—restaurant, simply because of a date on a calendar.

For me, gestures of love are all about the little things—the smaller and more spontaneous, the better . . . Getting a surprise brownie when I’ve mentioned to a friend that I’m feeling a little down . . . An impromptu invitation to take a walk holding hands on a beautiful sunny day.

Huge bouquets of red rose or big boxes of fancy chocolates don’t make my heart go pitty-pat. (well, okay—maybe I’m fibbing about the chocolate!) It’s the off-beat things that I cherish. One of my favorites is a small heart-shaped rock inscribed with colorful circles that I received for no apparent reason at all! Fluttery sigh.   

 

Nicola has a very Romantic story to tell:

I got engaged on Valentine’s Day 32 years ago. In those days it wasn’t really the commercial

That special Valentines trip

festival it is now but was a lot more low key. One of the things that I remember about the occasion was that that my now-husband was so nervous when it came to proposing that he couldn’t get the words out!

Since that day so long ago, we have gone on a trip each Valentine’s Day to celebrate our engagement. This has not always been easy – bad weather, hospital stays and various other life events have intervened to throw obstacles in the way but we have always managed to do something every year even if it has just been a quiet dinner for two somewhere. In the process we’ve stayed in so many gorgeous places and discovered historical gems to visit across England, Scotland and Wales. It’s a fabulous tradition and I hope we can continue it until we fall off our joint twig!

 

The cat in the earrings

Mary Jo passes along a story from a friend:

One of the sweetest Valentine's story I know is from many years ago when a close college friend was dating a girl who really made him light up with happiness. Valentine's Day was coming so he bought her a large stuffed animal to cuddle. He also bought her a pair of earrings because giving jewelry is always a romantic gesture.

Then he thought why not combine the gifts? So the stuffed cat wore earrings. His sweetheart carried that critter through their whole date. And yes--Reader, he married her!

(The picture is a reenactment since this happened long before the era of easy smart phone cameras. <G>)

 

Susan brings us hearts, harts, hearts:

When my three boys were little guys, they gave me assorted hearts for Valentine's Day--small

The collective noun for hearts is ...

wooden ones painted in a preschool class, Play-Doh hearts rolled and mushed and left to dry, paper cut-out hearts glued to doilies, hearts in crayon on paper ...

I've kept lots of these, stashed away in boxes of things that I keep for each son (should they ever want them, which is looking doubtful!). Sometimes the little guys would troop out with their Dad to buy a card and a big box of chocolates (that they soon scarfed up), and they'd also help him pick out heart-shaped jewelry.

I've got quite a collection of heart-shaped necklaces and earrings by now -- here are just a few of them. Each one holds a memory that I'll keep forever, even if the chocolates lasted about five minutes in this house! Happy Valentine's to all!

 

And for me, Joanna ...

I love seasonal things. The candles of the Solstice. The first snowdrop. Fireworks. Pumpkins. Maiwein. The August Moon Viewing.

My best Valentines Days have included clumsy, schoolmade Valentines of red construction paper and frilly white doilies with LOTS of school glue slathered on. Glitter optional.

I also have a fondness for origami hearts. They delight me beyond measure.

But most of all, I love the dorky heart-shaped candies with little slogans on them. "Kiss Me," "Hug Me Tight, "Be Mine."

 

So, what moves your heart today, Valentines Day?
What custom? What memory? What gift?