Chocolate Mint

I had a stand of it at the old house, along with some pineapple mint, which was very beautiful and really tasted of pineapple. Did you know you could grow mint in flavors? I also had some orange mint, very distinct, but not so much as the pineapple, which was also hard to grow.

And we are living in an age where the first Pope to resign in six centuries has just done so. And that's enough of that.

Meanwhile, the useless holiday creeps toward us...really, I can sustain this disgust for weeks on end. There is no more commercial holiday on the calendar than Valentine's. I know. Those of you who love this orgy of chocolate, roses, and cards are sick of my attitude at this point. But we complain about the commercialization of Christmas, and not a word is breathed about Valentine's. What is that about?

One day out of the year to celebrate Love? Particularly, romantic Love? It's as if we celebrated Christmas once a year, and then didn't go to church the rest of the year, or read one's applicable spiritual tome, or practice what Jesus preached the rest of the year. Valentine's just pops out of nowhere, as if to say, "Romance? I'm all over that. Here, have a flower." It has the reputation of a bit of the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am variety that is insulting in the extreme to me as a woman. O well.

The commercializing agents: the card companies and the chocolate manufacturers, the makers of sparkling wine, and the weekend resorts that run specials, make a boatload of money this time of year, and I suppose that irks me the most.

It's like having a Dog day, where one shows one's undying affection for one's pooch, by giving him a treat on that day. When really, dogs are there for you all day long, and even in your sleep. 365 days out of the year, from birth to death. What more is it that they can give? How else can they express their devotion?

No, I hope Love is not as flash in the pan as all that. But a silent, quiet strength, that upholds both partners in life. And now I will crawl off of my soapbox and leave this holiday alone, and look toward Spring.

It is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar. It's a shy, quiet sort of creature as they see it, and not some westernized, evil version. And the local market still has not marked down their calendars for sale, although it is almost March. How cheap can one get?

Time to text my therapist.