Valentine's minus 3

It’s almost Valentine’s weekend. I think we’re set for the big day on Monday, with all the cards signed and presents on order or wrapped.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, a “Christmas?”  amaryllis has come into full red and white bloom today. The forsythia stems are coming along nicely, with buds swelling and a few hints of green appearing. Meanwhile, last night and early today we got snow, thaw, rain?, and freeze. The transition from winter into spring can be, and usually is, very uneven in our North Country. Late yesterday the deck feeders and sky looked like this picture:

any feeder in a (snow) storm

Photo by J. Harrington

We’re currently debating whether  we’ll be better off if the driveway is scraped again, leaving it smoother than ideal for traction, especially when walking an eager dog or two, or just leave the roughed crusty coating alone until days get warmer (Yes!) or we get more snow (Please, no!).

We’ve heard rumors that two teams are playing football this weekend but we’re not sure who or where. The lead up to whatever is going on makes us wonder if the baseball championship would be more popular if it were just one game instead of a series. Can a society enamored of thirty second sound bites maintain an attention span over multiple games?

A PERFECT HEART

By Ted Kooser

To make a perfect heart you take a sheet
of red construction paper of the type
that’s rough as a cat’s tongue, fold it once,
and crease it really hard, so it feels
as if your thumb might light up like a match,

then choose your scissors from the box. I like
those safety scissors with the sticky blades
and the rubber grips that pinch a little skin
as you snip along. They make you careful,
just as you should be, cutting out a heart

for someone you love. Don’t worry that your curve
won’t make a valentine; it will. Rely
on chewing on your lip and symmetry
to guide your hand along with special art.
And there it is at last: a heart, a heart!

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