Feeling alright! Oh yeah,

I caught some bug and was sick for several days, but now I'm back and good as new. I won't bother you with the details as it makes me think of old people at Tim Hortons, having coffee in the morning and each one-upping the other with how sick they've been, their spouse has been, what aches and pains they have, what their cholesterol levels are and slowly and methodically going through the trials and tribulations of their health problems. I want to shout at them, being old doesn't mean that your only adventures left in life are figuring out your medical mysteries. Well, at least they are out having coffee and meeting friends instead of staying stuck in their homes.

Valentine's Day was almost 2 weeks ago. Janne got me a beautiful bouquet of red roses and pink and white tulips ( I adore tulips!) . I know, I know, everybody today says, "Valentine's Day is just commercialism and has nothing to do with love and is just a marketing ploy". Yes, it is but I could say the same thing about Christmas. Not much about Christmas has to do about a savior baby being born or about its pagan origins, but we still give gifts to the people we love simply because, for one moment, we put the brakes on our feet that are always going at 100 miles an hour and we take time to let someone know that we love them. To me, Valentine's Day is a moment like this. Ignoring the holiday to stick it to the industry seems sad to me. It's not about the flowers or the chocolate or the price they cost; it's about the attention. Obviously, it doesn't have to be something that is bought. It can be a poem, a nice supper or a massage. Yes, you can still do wonderful things for your sweetie all year long, but I guarantee you, saying "You already know I love you so let's just ignore this holiday... may get your wife or girlfriend's response of "Yeah, sure, no problem" but actually, most of us would feel let down. What do you expect? " No, you must spoil me today? "

The flowers were beautiful for several days and as they started to wilt, the roses gracefully bowed their heads down low and turned the color of black cherries. The tulips, spread and twisted their petals and I could watch their ballet, a last dance.

My tribute to the dancers: