Valentine's Day - 2015

I hate to interrupt our wonderful trip to Lesotho and leave everyone stranded in the Sky Kingdom,  but Valentine's Day has arrived and … well … it's a holiday to be celebrated no matter where we are or what we're doing. We'll descend the Sani Pass tomorrow, but today … it's all hearts and roses.

Legend has it that Valentine's Day commemorates the day Saint Valentine, a 3rd century Christian bishop was martyred in Rome for marrying Christian couples. I wondered if Valentine's Day was celebrated in other parts of the world and how.

Here in South Africa, I see all the commercial signs of Valentine's Day … heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, Valentine cards, red hearts in the shop windows. It's not as commercial or as big as in the USA, but it's definitely celebrated here. I found this pic on the internet, which is probably more in keeping with Afrikaans valentines.

In Japan, they celebrate Valentine's Day with chocolate, but only women give gifts to men. Chocolates known as “giri choco” are given to all male friends and even bosses, but it has no romantic connotation. Guys aren't off the hook though. A month later on March 14, they celebrate White Day when men reciprocate with chocolates and flowers.

In Italy, they say Buon San Valentino. According to tradition, the first man a girl sees on Valentine's Day will become her husband and they'll be married within a year. I imagine that eligible men don't stray far from their homes on that day unless they're interested in matrimony.

In Denmark, the custom is to send white flowers known as Snowdrops. Lovers send anonymous love notes, gaekkebrev, signed with dots, not a name. If you guess the sender, you're eligible for an egg at Easter. What an incentive!

In Norway, Valentine's Day is associated with love birds and signs of spring. While in Germany, in addition to the more commercial hearts and flowers, a special gift of a pig can be included. Representing luck and lust, the pig can be a picture, a mini-statue or a chocolate shape. Heart-shaped ginger cookies with romantic phrases are also popular.

Dia dos enamorados (Lovers Day) is Brazil's equivalent to Valentine's Day, but it's celebrated on June 12th .  There are musical performances held in addition to the usual chocolates, hearts and flowers.

The Taiwanese celebrate romance twice a year! February 14th coincides with the rest of the world's celebration, but they celebrate it again on July 7th. Men give bouquets of flowers and according to Taiwanese tradition, the color and number of flowers have special meaning … red roses represent “love”, ninety-nine roses mean “love forever”, and108 roses signify a marriage proposal.

Historically, the French claim the first Valentine card. Charles, the Duke of Orleans, reputedly wrote the first Valentine card to his second wife, Bonne d’Armagnac in 1416. He sent her a little poem and signed it  “Your Valentine”.

Enough … suffice it to say, Valentine's Day or some comparable day for celebrating love is observed pretty much worldwide. As for us, we'll celebrate in our own way. We don't need flowers, or chocolates or hearts. Champers would be nice though. And how will you celebrate this year?

Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits

This is kind of an off-the-wall blog post, but since February 1st is tomorrow, I thought I'd write it and see if anyone else reading this blog does the “rabbits” thing.

Here's the deal. If the first thing out of your mouth on the first day of the month is “Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits”, you'll have good luck for the upcoming month. I'm not sure when I started doing this. I don't think my mom taught me, but somewhere along the line, I heard about it and did it and taught my little sister, Lin, to do it as well. Here we are 50+ years later and we still do it. In fact, we compete to see who will be the first to remember to say it on the first of every month. At present, I have a leg-up since the first of each month currently arrives here in Durban earlier than it does in Boston. Big sister/dateline advantage!

I always wondered if other people did this, too. When I was in university, some of my fellow students were rabbit fans. I met some first-of-the-month rabbit-ers during my working years and I've even met a few yachties that participate in this odd practice, despite the fact that rabbits are considered bad luck on a boat.

I was interested in the origins of the “rabbits” superstition and was surprised (though not really) that Wikipedia had an article on it and there were several more articles as well. Lots of people do this, evidently. "Even Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, has confessed to a friend that he says 'Rabbits' on the first of every month—and, what is more, he would not think of omitting the utterance on any account." – The Nottingham Evening Post. 27 November 1935

Though the origins of the practice aren't clear, there's been reference to it in literature since  at least 1909. There are variations on this theme, but basically it's all rabbit-oriented. Perhaps because some consider rabbits to be good luck … like a lucky rabbit's foot?

The White Rabbit Theory (really?) postulates that it might be as old as William I. An article in Yankee magazine mentions possible 13th century British origins. Even NPR did a piece on the rabbit tradition. I'm feeling like I'm in good company.

I'm not really sure I've had good luck each month whenever I've remembered to say it, but I haven't had bad luck either and I hate to tempt fate. So … if you're a “rabbits, rabbits, rabbits” advocate, let me know.  If not, tomorrow's the first of the month, give it a try.

New Year's Resolutions 2015

I was so busy carousing with my sister over the holidays and then traveling back to David at year end, I never took the time to write down my New Year's Resolutions. I like to review the past year to see how I've done and then figure out some specific goals for the year to come. Sorry to say, the goals don't change much from year to year.

Losing weight is always number one on my list, though I usually phrase it  “eat healthier-cut out junk food”. Perhaps I do shed a few pounds during the course of the year, but I always gain them back (and sometimes more) by year end. I did manage to publish a book this year, Days and Ways to Celebrate 2015, as did David - The Complete Book of Anchors and Anchoring.

David's not into making resolutions. I always have. So without further ado, here they are … 2015 New Year's Resolutions ... in black and white, better late than never.

Lose some weight by eating healthier (and less!) and avoiding junk food Exercise regularly … especially back exercises Finish and publish another book … a cookbook, maybe? Be kinder and better-natured – I have the propensity to be more cranky the older I get

So far I haven't cut back on eating or drinking … it's the end of the holiday season, after all … nor have I exercised a lick. There's plenty of time for the book. Better natured? Hmm...I'm going to have work harder on that one.

Incidentally, January 14th is Ditch Your New Year's Resolutions Day, so I won't have long to wait.