Valentine's Day . . .

. . . Because love isn't quite complicated enough as it is.

I suppose for lots of folks Valentine's Day gets all mixed-up and messed-up with expectations and disappointments. Here in the States, Madison Avenue puts together a pretty good hype causing lots of us to think we ought to run, do, buy, and give. Some are masters at pulling that off. Bravo to you! Several blips have come across the screen today with spectacular photos and write-ups of their Valentine celebrations. At those moments I just want to stand and give an ovation of applause. I love celebrations.

We've been celebrating this holiday since the beginning of the month, not because we had to, but because it's just so much fun. Lots of the fun has come through doodah shopping -- just looking and not buying . . . standing in front of the florist shop, the jewelry shop, the candy shop, the Mac store . . . wishing and drooling, but not buying. Sometimes we have as much fun (maybe more) wishing as we do taking "it" home. A lot of the fun has come from one little book, shown in the photo above.

We've also had lots of fun sending envelopes filled with Valentines to friends and to our kids and grandkids. And we've received some fun envelopes. I'm planning to extend the holiday by taking candies to my new students this coming Tuesday and Thursday.

Throughout the day I've thought lots about the difference between romantic love and extravant love and I wished that this holiday could be about both. So that for couples it could be romantic, but for everyone it could be extravagant -- a day when we all realize that everyone needs to be loved so we all are a little nicer than we're naturally prone towards.

Yay, I know that's way too idealistic. At weddings we often hear the "love chapter" read aloud . . . with the famous ending "and the greatest of these is love." So today I'm wishing us all a larger dose of love and realizing that the best way to get love is to give it . . . even if it doesn't get returned from the one it is given to. I do believe, though, that it will return to us.

Today's photo includes chocolates, so I'll end my Valentine Blip series with a poignant Ted Kooser poem "Chocolate Checkers" that subtly reminds me of a area where I need to practice extravagant love. So I include this poem for me.


CHOCOLATE CHECKERS

In a tiny green park, chopped out
of a corner of Commerce, I saw
two men in rags with their backpacks
lying beside them. Red nose to red nose
and old boots toe to toe, they were
playing a game of chocolate checkers,
using candy for pieces, and eating
the pieces they'd won from each other
and laughing like crazy.

It was Commerce
who'd given this park to the city,
and Commerce looked on--the bank
and the telephone company
standing behind mirrored windows,
disapproving--not of chocolate checkers,
per se, but of that kind of people,
laughing and playing with candy
on an imported Italian marble table
with neatly set black-and-white tiles.

by Ted Kooser, Valentines: Poems
Presidential Professor of the University of Nebraska
former U.S. poet laureate
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

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