Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine, Palentine, Galentine Day. It is a day to celebrate the people we love.

Some 144 million cards were exchanged last year. That equals over 1/3 of our population of 328,428,067. Americans are projected to spend 19.6 billion dollars for cards, flowers, candy, jewelry, coffee cups with cute sayings written on them. This amount does not include a special dinner.

And some even shower their pets with love over and above normal. About 75 percent of the chocolate sold in the year is for February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

Where are those little cardboard boxes full of the heart shaped, hard as nail candies, with cute little sayings stamped on them this year? Necco Company went bankrupt last year and so this year we will be without the boxes of Sweetheart candies made annually since the War of Northern Aggression. Drats!

Not to fear another company bought the assets and plans to build another plant for production next year. Boo Hoo, Necco also made the taffy like Mary Janes and Squirrel Nut Zippers, Clark bars and those large, multicolored wafers called Necco Wafers.

Blame all these swappings of love on the Italians who celebrated fertility at the pagan Lupercalia festival each spring around this time. Time marches on and possibly a real person named Valentine performed illegal marriages, forbidden by the law of the ancient Romans, and aided Christians during that time who was executed for his deeds. He signed his final letter, “Your Valentine.”

All logical people know the benefits of laughter and chocolate. Scientists have determined that chocolate ingredients enhance your mitochondrial bio-genesis and who can have too much of that. Just don’t eat the whole bag of chocolate kisses.

Have a wonderful day, show love for somebody, Monticello.