Happy Valentine!

For the ladies who read this blog - a happy Valentine's day. Now you can say that you have at least one Valentine's greeting.

Of course, the crass, commercial North American environment has tainted the meaning of the day to some degree; we ourselves are not immune. But at least we have a choice; we can make the best of it. In that spirit, we invited our immediate family to dinner yesterday (it's next to impossible to get dinner reservations for today). We had a very nice dinner at Earl's restaurant, which is located not far from our house. There were eight of us: our two granddaughters, our son, our daughter-in-law and her parents, and the two of us. Earl's had arranged a very nice (square) table for us - the food and service were excellent - and we had a good time. Even the cost was low, because we used up the gift cards which we had received as presents from my wife's sister and brother-in-law at Christmas.

An additional reason to dine out was that our older granddaughter has her 10th birthday on Valentine's day (Valentine's day is the birthday date she shares with my own sister, her great aunt). She received a present from her maternal grandparents; we expect a visit from her today at our house, because she knows that there are more presents for her here.

I'm fortunate. My wife and I like staying at home. Usually, we have a glass of wine after dinner, and during the winter at least, when the evenings are dark, we light some of the candles we have in our living room. This makes for a nice, cozy, and romantic feeling - one can say that we have a Valentine's day almost every day.

Praise family!