Thursday, February 14, 2008

What Do You Think Of When You Hear "Valentine's Day"?

This being the "Day of Hearts and Flowers," I asked several staff members what they think of when they hear "Valentine's Day." Since most of our staff members are ladies, I got the usual hearts and flowers. Ann and Gail said love; Aileen said candy with words on them; Cray said loved ones; Carolyn said chocolate; Norma said red; and Melody said sweetheart. Of course, Josh said the Valentine's Day Massacre.
I decided to look in Chase's Calendar of Events and see what it said. I found that Valentine's Day (other than information about the Christian martyrs) had an old legend that birds choose their mates on Valentine's Day. And as we know, it is an occasion for the exchange of gifts (usually books - YEAH! -, flowers or sweets) and greeting cards with affectionate or humorous messages.
Famous people were born on February 14th, including Jack Benny, the great American comedian who was born in 1894. And Gregory Hines, born in 1946, who was one of the best tap dancers of his generation.
On this day journalist Carl Bernstein will be 63; football player Drew Bledsoe will be 35; the mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg will be 65; broadcaster Hugh Downs, 86; singer/actress Florence Henderson, 73; and magician Teller (of Penn & Teller) will be 59.
We have some books about valentines, too.
In the Children's Library, there's Max's Valentine by Rosemary Wells and Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine by Barbara Park. There's a mystery, Valentine Murder by Leslie Meier, and a science fiction, Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg. There's also The Last Valentine by James Michael Pratt and Be My Valentine by Debbie Macomber.
So, there's lots to think of when you hear "Valentine's Day." What do you think of?

No comments: