the technical valentine
It is almost two weeks since Valentine’s Day. We are clearly out of the Valentine’s Day zone – after all, the hearts and flowers have come down in the shops. But how maleable is the time zone for Valentine’s Day? If it attaches to a weekend as it did this year, can the Valentine zone extend to cover this extra period? Would a Valentine’s message on the Sunday, for example, count?
I am curious. In addition, how all encompassing is the subject matter? Can a Valentine’s related matter count as a Valentine’s Day message? Particularly if it is received on the day, so to speak?
I ask these questions because I received (1) a phone call on Valentine’s Day on a Valentine related matter and (2) a shouted ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ late on Sunday afternoon from a leggy, African soccer player in the middle of Footscray Park when I was walking my dog.
I have had some very happy Valentine’s Days in my past. Someone faithfully sent me lovely things for five years in a row before thinking better of it and going and getting married to someone else. Someone once drove to the country and left a beautiful bunch of roses on the doorstep of my parent’s local Catholic Church (sweet, really, not bizarre!) and a series of intriguing messages about where I should retrieve them from. (Unfortunately at this time there was a cricket plague in the area and all the heads of the flowers were devoured by swarming crickets! Maybe symptomatic of the relationship as a whole!? Not sure.) Thank you to all those generous and lovely people (you know who you are)who have thought to bring something special into my life.
But the question at hand?
Ok, so the Valentine’s related matter was a phone call asking if I’d ‘got’ anything before skiting about the caller’s own particular good fortune. And the late shouted message may well have been taking the piss.
However, I choose to interpret these things generously. I will call them technical Valentines and file them away along with my other stories.
Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day to you!! XX