Aloha, My Friend,
You couldn’t guess it by walking around outside scantily clad these days but the word fever has its root word in the month of February. In ancient Roman days, long before the Fellini films, February was associated with a purification ritual called Februa. The Latin word for fever (febris) is associated with the idea of purification or purging, due to the sweating commonly seen in association with fevers.
I know that that is really a bit of useless information but somehow I am comfortable that you will tuck it away someplace in some cluttered mental closet and wow your friends with that knowledge at some future date.
Here is something else for your fun factoid file: If you look at the calendar you will see that February looks like a perfect block. February starts on a Sunday and, exactly 4 weeks later, ends on a Saturday. February is the only month that such a trick is possible and the year 2009 is one of the few years in which it actually happens.
And, of course, February is the month of St. Valentine’s Day. Although there is great debate about who St. Valentine was and his relationship to romance, he is one of my favorite saints, although some have recommended that I should lean a wee bit closer to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. My saintly preference is sort of ironic because Laine will tell anyone who will listen that, mush-mush that I might be, I am not that much of a romantic. I don’t believe in soul-mates, I don’t believe in love at first sight and more than once I have found myself walking down the street thinking, “Oh, so this is what Jimmy Carter meant by lusting in my heart.”
There is a song by John Hiatt called, Learning How To Love You. One of the lines in it goes –
From the first kiss in the schoolyard
To the last heart broke in two
I didn’t know that it would be so hard
Learning how to love you.
We all make a lot of mistakes falling in love. Maybe that is why it is called falling-in-love, because it is an ongoing process, when we stop falling is when we crash. So we all keep on trying. And we keep learning. Maybe that is why we need a saint, to comfort us and assure us that our hearts can beat in someone else’s hands
This year, when you tell someone Happy Valentine’s Day let them know that you are still learning and that they are your favorite subject.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Laine.
Things are pretty sweet this month at Railroad Square. Bali-HI has expanded so come see our new space! We are all about the tropics as we get through the winter and head into a beautiful Tally spring. Come find that perfect tropical painting, lamp or Aloha shirt to lift your spirits and remind you of the warmth to come. We have fine handcrafted jewelry from 7 local artists if you are looking for that special ValentineS gift. Several of our artists have created special Valentines gifts from heart pendants to handcrafted LOVE frames.
2nd Sunday (2/8) from 12-5 PM is “Sweet Sunday” and participating Shops and Studios will be having a bake sale with homemade goodies and sweets for sale. The Cake Shop is donating some goodies too so be sure to get there early because these will go fast! All proceeds will go to support 2nd Harvest and Big Bend Homeless Coalition, HOPE Community. Horse drawn carriage rides will also be offered this year, so it really will be a “sweet” event.
And Thanks for Shopping Locally.