2012

Howdy folks,

Well, February is here, and that means weather will be movin’ toward spring soon. I hope where you’re at, this month will mark less snowfall, blizzards, and icy freezes, but that may not be until March or April if you live in the far northern states like where I grew up. We still had flurries the first week of April—I sure don’t miss five long months of cold and snow since we retired to Arizona. I only miss the first snow, and snow at Christmastime. That’s it!

In two weeks, it’ll be Valentine’s Day! Ah, yes—a time for young lovers. I say young because I don’t lean that direction romantically any longer after being married almost forty years, and very comfortable with proceeding in this fashion ‘til one of us meets our Maker!

It’s not that I don’t know what being In Love is…Been there—done that! It’s the most outta of one’s mind you can get, (if you’re otherwise normal in that sense). When I fell in love, I could think of nothing but him at home or at work. I ate little, and slept less. The world around me seemed totally euphoric and beautiful. Nothing could dampen my spirits, or change my mind about how I felt. So, you see, I know the experience though it’s been many, many years since passion and lust consumed my every waking moment.

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I’ve already written some time ago about how all this Valentine’s Day love stuff came about, but for those of you who weren’t listenin’, here’s a brief once over of that tale again…

Valentine was a Roman saint who was martyred during the reign of Claudius11 (Claudius Gothicus). This emperor did not want his soldiers to marry because he believed they would not fight to the death if they had a loving wife to return to. Valentine married hundreds of couples secretly in spite of this rule.

Eventually, he was arrested and imprisoned for committing this serious crime imposed by the emperor, and also for helping Christians in general who were at the time being persecuted by the Romans.

However, Claudius took a liking to his prisoner, after he threw him in the dungeon, until Valentine tried to convert him to Christianity—whereupon the saint was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned. When this method of torture failed to kill him, Valentine was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for his martyrdom as: 269 to 270, or even as late as 273 A.D.

From his martyred death forward, word spread of Saint Valentine’s fate, and he was not to be forgotten in the annals of time. An article was written about him as late as 1493 in the Nuremberg Chronicle next to a picture of a wooden carving of the beloved saint.

Because he helped young lovers to wed, his name has been synonymous with Love & Romance to this very day.

The official ‘Roman Martyrology’ for February 14 mentions only one Saint—Valentine. Thus, we celebrate his life and death on this day each year with various romantic gestures.

Do check out the many Love Poems written by myself and others, posted on my website this month…

www.cowboypoetryandmore.com

Granny Tam

Below is a poem written for old lovers. Enjoy!