It is Sunday, February 14.  Happy Valentine’s Day!  This is the only day when it is okay to walk around with a heart on.  I know.  I use that every year but I don’t think it ever gets old.  The lovely Elaine would disagree.  Anyway, today we remember the birthdays of Johann Pistorius, Richard Allen and Thelma Ritter.  On this day in 1848 James Polk became the first president photographed in office, in 1883 the first state labor union legislation was passed; New Jersey legalized unions and in 1971 the movie “Ben Hur” was shown on TV for the first time.  In Arizona and Oregon it is Admission Day, in Bulgaria it is Viticulturists’ Day and worldwide it is St Valentine’s Day.

As has always been my practice, I continue to try and offer you more information for your Useless Information file regarding Valentine’s Day.  I try not to duplicate stuff from past years, but if I do, sorry.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailer’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.

St. Valentine has wide-ranging spiritual responsibilities. People call on him to watch over the lives of lovers, of course, but also for interventions regarding beekeeping and epilepsy, as well as the plague, fainting and traveling.

The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer often took liberties with history, placing his poetic characters into fictitious historical contexts that he represented as real.  No record exists of romantic celebrations on Valentine’s Day prior to a poem Chaucer wrote around 1375. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day–an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention.  The poem refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate.  When Chaucer wrote, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate,” he may have invented the holiday we know today.

So now that I have given you the latest on Valentine’s Day, let’s move on to another important holiday. We saw earlier that today is also Viticulturists’ Day in Bulgaria so, the question is what is a Viticulturist?  Viticulturists plan, supervise and coordinate the growing of selected grape varieties for the production of wine.  I don’t know about you but I have been celebrating these people for years.  I didn’t realize they had an official title.  I always just called them the wine guys.  To all Viticulturists, in Bulgaria and everywhere, thank you for your dedication to your craft.

I had the opportunity to go to the mall with the lovely Elaine the other day and thought I would mention one or two things that I noticed.  One thing I have become aware of is the scents that are in the mall.  I used to think that what we smelled was coming from a candle store or a fragrance kiosk.  Now I am not so sure.  We were walking past a men’s clothing store and were getting - the only term I can think of is - assaulted by an aroma that I would not normally associate with men’s clothing.  I paused to look around and did not see a candle shop or anyplace that would be giving off that smell.  I am wondering if the mall puts this scent out to counteract the orders that humans give off, if you know what I mean.

Another thing I noticed was that every store we passed wanted you to buy something there for your Valentine.  I have a hard time believing that my Valentine, or most Valentines, would be content with a nice pair of socks.  “Joe bought me roses and a bracelet for Valentine’s Day.  What did you get?”  “I got a nice pair of socks with pink hearts on them.”  I think the sock recipient will be back on the market in time for St Patrick’s Day.  How about buying a nice candle for your sweetie?  I certainly wouldn’t buy a candle for my sweetie.  It would hurt when she “gave” it back to me.  Aside from the lack of romance involved, most candles cause the lovely Elaine’s asthma to bother her.  We used to buy a particular candle scent that didn’t bother her asthma, but they stopped making that one.

I prefer holidays like St Patrick’s Day.  That is a day of parades, eating and drinking.  What more do you need?  How about Presidents Day?  This is a day that combined the birthdays of two presidents into one Monday holiday that most people don’t get off anymore, but we don’t have to get anyone a gift.  I generally like holidays that call for relaxing, eating and drinking.  These are the ones where all you have to worry about is what food to grill and what the viticulturists provided us with.  I think we should have at least one Eating and Drinking Monday each month so that we can celebrate without having to buy gifts.  If any of you want to start that movement, let me know.  I will support it.

This week our fact tells us that 3.9% of all women do not wear underwear.  I am not sure how anyone would know this for sure, but I am willing to do some research on it just to verify the truth.  I would hate to pass on incorrect information.