We’ve all been at this Valentine’s Day thing for quite some time – most of us from elementary school, where we walked around each other’s desks and put homemade valentines in a souped-up brown lunch bag we had all decorated with glued-on, cut-out hearts, hoping that the valentines from the cute girls meant they really did like us and it wasn’t just a token of friendship that we all had to oblige.
I don’t remember much about the day in junior high and high school. At Ole Miss, my best friend, Tony Sancillo and I would go find some children’s valentines and hop in my blue Chevette and ride up and down sorority row playing the Lone Ranger music and wearing lone ranger masks proclaiming ourselves the “Valentine Strangers.”
We handed them out to any female who didn’t take us as some kind of threat or think we should be on a short bus somewhere. That was a lot of fun and I remember the smiles of some of the coeds who really enjoyed getting their lone valentine that day. Remembering that still makes me smile.
These days, being married for, hold on, let me count, 28 years heading into 29, you’d think I’d have a handle on this and be some kind of expert. But each and every year it seems to be a burden of what to do. Flowers and a card are required but do I cook? Do I take her out? Wait, I’ve got a game to work that night so do we push it back or move it ahead? And what food isn’t going to rile up our inflammation and such? So, I decided to take a cue from some other countries to see just what they do. A quick look on Mr. Google and I may have this covered.
Roses. In many countries, roses are given as a symbol of love. Oh, duh. But how about this – love spoons! In Wales, men carve wooden spoons and give them to women they like. If the woman accepts the spoon, it's considered a token of engagement. I’m already engaged and married with two daughters but carving a spoon sounds like a fun task. And it can be kindling if it doesn’t go over well. I wonder if there’s a YouTube video on how to carve a spoon.
Now in Peru, they give out orchids instead of roses because it's a flower native to the country. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever had an orchid. They’re a lot of work and bloom very little. Kind of like a piece of bamboo that you don’t know is alive or dead so you read books and take classes and spend money on all kinds of fertilizers just to learn this. Growing orchids isn’t fun or romantic. Been there, done that, don’t need a t-shirt to remind me.
In Denmark, people give white snowdrop flowers. I think I’ll just stick with roses. The German folks have a good hook – heart-shaped gingerbread cookies with love messages written on them. I’ve got a decent percentage of German in me so I’ll head to the grocery store but I reckon it should be a short, less fattening message or perhaps a word on each cookie? Could be a lot of work and I need a good gingerbread recipe if anybody has one.
The next Mr. Google idea I really like. Pigs! Some people give pigs as gifts, which are thought to symbolize luck. But probably not for the pig. Now I do like those miniature pigs and my daughters tried to get me to get them one years ago. I had no idea it was a great Valentine’s gift. But then they probably would have banned bacon in the house and the smoker would have been orphaned, so maybe I won’t go buying any live pigs but will just wrap a pork butt in red paper for my honey.
Now in Japan, the women give gifts to their special men but the men can't give gifts in return until March 14, which is known as "the white day." Oh, ok. Mr. Google tells me "White Day" symbolizes purity and sincerity and it was originally associated with white-colored gifts, particularly marshmallows.
Alrighty, well, I’m off to the store to find a pork butt, roses, a card and some marshmallows for Valentine’s Day.
Wish me luck or #29 might be in the wind.
Hmm, maybe two pork butts and I could always use that carved wooden spoon to help me roast that marshmallow…
