Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  

Why is it that Valentines tends to strike terror in mens' little, stone-like hearts.  I think the problem is, we, as a gender, are not inherently romantic in any way.  Unfortunately our better halves expect there to be scads of romance sprinkled throughout the one day of the year that we celebrate love.  Like most other holidays too, commercialism rears its ugliness and you are deemed unromantic if you do not follow cupid's bidding.

Monday unfortunately is a right-off in our household.  The missus leaves at 6:45 a.m. to start her day.  When I get home from school, she is in the midst of teaching piano in the music room.  This she continues to 7:00 pm.  I leave for my Melodia Monday choir at 6:45 and don't return until about 10:00.  We are kind of like ships that pass in the night, for that 24 hour period. 

I was down for the count with the aches and chills most of the weekend, so didn't get around to planning anything.  We had agreed that maybe we would go out for dinner and a movie on Tuesday night, but were just informed that youngest daughter needs a ride home from work, bang in the middle of such festivities.  Wednesday night is choir, Thursday I play at the Arts Center, Friday, daughter #1 arrives mid-evening from university, and Saturday I am back playing at the Arts Center.  Do you see my dilemma?

My Valentine of nearly 21 years.

So the best I can do is tell you what a wonderful, kind, supportive, loyal wife I have.  She says she doesn't care about such maudlin sentimentalities, but I think if I show up completely empty handed, she'll be a bit sad, and I will appear the cad (is there a poem to be generated there, somewhere?).   Twenty years she has put up with my shenanigans, bore me two lovely daughters and still says she loves me.

Still a knockout!

Chocolates - nope, after just shedding a small child's worth of weight, that is not a gift she would appreciate.  Cake - same deal.  Flowers - well I grow them for her all year long, so they get to be kind of meaningless too.  A singing Valentine - well that would be like bringing coals to Newcastle.  Jewelery - nope not something I am about to pick out myself, same deal with clothing.

A humorous aside in that regard.  I had purchased a lovely outfit about fifteen years ago for Valentine's Day.  Unfortunately as is usually the case, the pants were too short. Try buying anything for a six foot wife, off the rack, without her being there to try it on.  Anyway I was having a medical procedure done at an clinic that night and had the parcel in the car to return.  My wife had driven me, as I would not be driving myself home, comfortably, or thinking any romantic thoughts for several days.  She planned on returning the parcel on our way home.

When we returned from the office to the car, the glove compartment door was open and the parcel was missing.  To this day, I consider that was the unkindest cut of all.  

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.