Valentine Dogs

Valentine's Day is a little tricky for me, and I had no idea what I would write about until I remembered that I already edited and set aside a few pictures for today. Here they are:

From the Picasa album Trouble Dogs

(Actually I just did the third one.)

The thing about Valentine's Day is, I never know what to do with it. I'm allergic to flowers (and don't like them much anyway), I shouldn't be eating candy, and I'm not at all interested in diamonds or naughty underwear. John feels much the same way. In addition to that, neither of us feels it's a great idea to buy useless token gifts in our already overstuffed house, especially when money is tight. So how are we to meaningfully celebrate Valentine's Day? Write love poems to each other? It's been tried. I have no particular objection to the holiday as a commercial enterprise or a sappy tradition, or anything like that. I'm sure some people enjoy it very much. It may even help to advance lasting relationships and remind couples of their love for each other. This is all to the good. But John and I personally don't have a satisfactory way to celebrate it, especially this year.

It doesn't matter, though. He loves me, and I love him, and we both know it. We don't need conversation hearts or love bears (from the most blatantly, cartoonishly sexist ad I've seen in years) to tell us this.

May your Valentine's Day be entirely satisfactory, no matter how you celebrate it!

Karen

Update: I gave John a bag of desert widflower seeds intended for his birthday, and a valentine adapted from the one of Cayenne above. He's taking me to a brew pub. (I don't drink, but there's food.) That'll work!