The Beatles had it right all along, I reckon.

Just like with UFO’s, Time Travel, and dare I say it Climate Change, you don’t have to actually believe in something to either appreciate it, tolerate it or get into it. Like most people in Orange, you’ll be reading this fine magazine on a Thursday afternoon, either over a coffee, or after work having picked one up outside the Supermarket or somewhere similar on your way home. Which means you’ve got about half-a-day or so to get yourself organised if you’ve forgotten. Yep, tomorrow is February 14th, (Saint) Valentine’s Day to be precise. And woe betide even the non-believers if you forget your other half on this special day.

I’m not sure I’d ever be called a ‘romantic’, but both me and Mrs T are kinda into the whole Valentine’s Day thing. Sure, most people are when they first start dating, and I know there are some who rely on the ol’ chestnuts of “every day should be Valentine’s Day” or even “I’m not gonna buy flowers just because some TV ad tells me to” to let it slip through to the ‘keeper. Ok. Points taken. But, like anyone with tin lids, things get quite hectic in the last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February, so Feb 14th is an ideal chance to sort of reset the clock and remember what’s important. A nice smoochy card with love hearts all over it, some chocolates - Caramel Snows for Mrs, and Cherry Liqueurs for me - and maybe some other little knick-knack. Not too commercial, not too cheesy, just a lovely way to say hi and slow things down a bit in this frenetic world of ours. It been some nice takeaway for dinner for the past few years, with St Val getting his nod on a weekday in the recent past, but with it being a Friday and all this time around, we’ll head out for a bite, with Mr happy to go wherever Mrs chooses. He knows which side his bread is buttered on J. It’ll be Indian or Thai if the Force is with me and we’re very lucky to be weel-catered for around here in both departments. If I’m on the ball I will have remembered to buy a four-pack of top quality Ice-creams from the supermarket on the way home from work to chuck in the freezer to have with a cuppa when we get home. Two ice-creams each will be a stretch if we’re choc full of either Larb Gai or Tikka Masala, but we might have a crack. It’s Valentine’s Day after all, and it doesn’t count on your waist. We just binged another show on Netflix (The Witcher, if you want to know), so we will have to find a new one this week to get into so there’s an episode waiting for us when we get home. 

Excuse me for having an opinion, but those who poo-poo on Valentine’s Day, using the excuse of commercialism are taking the easy way out. For us, a birthday in June and November, and an anniversary in September, Feb 14th divides our year into quarters very neatly I think when it comes to ‘keeping the flame alive’ (ugh, that sounded schmaltzy, but you know what I mean). Sending a love heart text is always a good one to split up the working day too. Don’t judge me for being behind in the tech world, but I recently learned how to make the love heart (or the balloons, or the laughing emoji) scatter fill the whole screen. Small things.

Anyway, as John himself said  ♫ It’s easy. All You Need is Love ♫  HVD.