Cue the music. Start the parade. Let the balloons and the confetti fly. We broke a record last night, one which had stood since 1935. The old record was -3˚. The new one is -9˚, but we have some sun, and the temperature has risen to 5˚. Sounds like beach weather to me. Where did I put that sunscreen?

Gracie has also set a new record. She ran out, squatted and ran back to the house in about two minutes. I’m thinking she is the Roger Bannister of canines.

This year I have been remiss. I bought Valentine’s Day cards but forgot to mail them so I’m going to fall back on it’s the thought that counts. Happy Valentine’s Day!!

My friend Tony brought me tulips. He never forgets me on Valentine’s Day.

When I was a kid, we had a Valentine’s Day party every year. The week before the big day we had to bring in a shoe box, and during art for the next couple of days we’d cut and paste and draw to decorate our boxes. The artistic process never changed. First we’d cut a slit at the top of the boxes so the valentines could be dropped inside. Then the sides and tops of the boxes were covered in construction paper. We’d cut the paper to fit then glue the paper to the boxes. I remember we all used LePage’s glue. The bottles were glass and had rubber tops which looked a bit like nipples for baby bottles. There was a slit in the rubber, and the glue used to harden around the opening. I didn’t know it back then but LePage’s was edible. It was really not glue but mucilage made from vegetable oils, and the early stuff from LePage’s was made from fish scales. None of us would ever have been accused of using too little glue. I remember thinking the more glue the better the paper would stick. There was always a huge wet blot anywhere we had pasted. The next day, when the glue was dry, our artistic talents came into play. I think 100% of us drew hearts. Some of us added arrows through the centers of the hearts. The arrows always had feathers at the tops or what stood for feathers given my lack of talent. Once the boxes were finished, they were lined up on the window sills until the big day.

Our party was always at the end of the day. I doubt any of us learned anything that day. Arithmetic paled at the thought of cookies, brownies and valentines. The clock slowly ticked off the minutes. Finally the nun would tell us to put our books away and get our boxes. Row by row we’d walk the aisles dropping valentines into the boxes then we’d eat the treats.

I’d carry home my box filled with valentines so carefully you’d think it was the crown jewels. I’d take off my school clothes, sit at the kitchen table and go through the valentines two or three more times.

I always loved school on Valentine’s Day .