Presentation

I'm excited about tomorrow's celebration. I know that tomorrow is not any different than any other day -- that is unless it's your birthday, and hey those are special. I like Valentine's Day because it causes lots of people to "pause" their normal routine and celebrate. Besides being a blipfoto addict, I am also a lover of celebrations.

Last night the two of us walked into the grocery store to do a little shopping and I got so excited because the place was filled, I mean it was really filled, with helium balloons mostly red ones and mostly heart-shaped. Someone would have thought they were all for me -- I just got so excited because each one represents a person who is going to be gifted for Valentine's Day. Today our mailbox contained some Valentine's envelopes. Mr. Fun thinks I'm crazy because I won't open them till tomorrow. I always save all cards that arrive early and open them on the "day of." It adds to the fun of that special day!

We've had a good day. It reached 77 degrees here. So he heated the spa and we soaked in the bubbly water enjoying the warmth of the sun. I took some fairly good photos from there, but making a Valentine greeting won the photo contest. No one judged the entries except me and now you've seen the winner.

During our evening dinner the two of us talked about "presentation." I sauteed onions and bell peppers in one pan; streamed broccoli in another; and finally I sauteed spinach in a third pan. Honestly each looked wonderful. He had cooked dinner for us much of this past week and had tossed them all in one pan and sauteed away. He had turned and turned the vegetables while they were cooking. When I arrived home from work, he dished-up my plate with his all-in-one concoction, you can imagine what the veggies looked like. I never complained. They did taste delicious.

So here's today's confession: I love presentation. So tonight he wondered why I wasn't combining all veggies into one pan (would be much easier to clean-up he reasoned) (and I knew it would). As we ate our meal, I looked at him and said, "Honey, I'm sorry I am such a goon for presentation. I just am. I think all the veggies look so much better, each in their own pan." He looked at me and said, "I guess it is the difference between a negligee and flannel jammies." We both busted-up laughing.

Since "presentation" has been a theme of our day, I think the following poem fits well in today's blip and will be my next-to-last Valentine poem (because you know, of course, that I've save one last Ted Kooser poem for tomorrow).

A PERFECT HEART

To make a perfect heart you take a sheet
of red construction paper of the type
that's rough as a cat's tongue, fold it once,
and crease it really hard, so it feels
as if your thumb might light up like a match,

then choose your scissors from the box. I like
those safety scissors with the sticky blades
and the rubber grips that pinch a little skin
as you snip along. They make you careful,
just as you should be, cutting out a heart

for someone you love. Don't worry that your curve
won't make a valentine; it will. Rely
on chewing on your lip and symmetry
to guide your hand along with special art.
And there it is at last: a heart, a heart!

by Ted Kooser, Valentines: Poems

Presidential Professor of the University of Nebraska
former U.S. poet laureate
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry


I'll try to blip early tomorrow so my blip friends "down under" are not having to have an extended Valentines celebration on Monday (but I suppose there could be worth things).

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol