“There were bells on a hill, But I never heard them ringing, No, I never heard them at all, Till there was you…”
– Meredith Wilson for his 1957 musical play “The Music Man”
February has arrived in our nook of the OC. We’ve seen our way through another season of short days and long nights. Thanks to some unseasonably, and summer like weather there are already some spring blossoms starting to show on a few trees and bushes along the Electric Avenue greenbelt in Seal Beach.
Everything is pointing to a refreshment of the world around us. Perhaps it’s also a time of personal renewal. Yes, it’s that time of year. We feel it coming – February’s big event, Valentine’s Day.
How many of us can remember way back in our childhood when Valentine’s Day was a curiosity we were suddenly faced with at our elementary school.
It seemed like a homework assignment to write on little Valentine’s cards to all of our classmates. It was more like a friendship greeting. There was no pressure. That came later. Whether you never wanted to purchase or write a Valentine’s Day card but felt obliged or worse … you were afraid of looking foolish.
So many of us seem to fall into these two latter categories or even have experienced both. Still, we know there are some lucky ones among us for whom Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday in which they have good reason to celebrate someone who is special to them. Maybe Valentine’s Day should not necessarily belong exclusively to a lucky few.
Perhaps the rules of the game should be changed. Maybe celebrating Valentine’s Day should become as compulsory as doing your income taxes.
Everyone would have to send at least one Valentine’s greeting to someone, even if it’s just to say hello to your grandma, or that aunt that always treated you special. That might really make February “The Love Month.”
Perhaps it’s more than the holiday itself that heightens our awareness of the one great gift of life, which is to have someone with whom to share it in some way whether in a romantic way or just to share some of our precious time. Besides, they say the best relationships are based on friendship.
This could be a perfect concept not only for our West Orange County region, but all over the world and throughout time.
However, we should also preserve the romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day and while it would not be mandatory, it would be highly encouraged and remain the holiday’s focus. Romance is probably a force of nature, more responsible for “making the world go round,” so to speak, than even money.
The roots of this go back, before you could enjoy a candlelight dinner at Spaghettini or take a romantic stroll on the Seal Beach Pier.
For some reason, as long as there have been people on the planet, February, with its leaning toward spring’s warmer weather and longer days has been the month wherein it’s time to harvest what the earth brings forth even before we’ve done the summer planting.
Young and old alike, we feel the change and we instinctively become more hopeful about the future. We can’t help but be reminded of the power of love and yes, romance, in our life. It becomes time again to take a chance and reach out to one(s) we love, no matter whom we are or they might be.
And so in February, we have Valentine’s Day and a way for us to express to someone that we not only care about them, but how wonderful life is with them in the world.
We express our Valentine’s Day thoughts and feelings in different ways at various stages of our life. We are taught to acknowledge when we are very young that we are all potential friends.
In our corner of the world, there seems to be an infinite number of ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day and the spirit of what it stands for and what it could stand for. What is romantic to one couple might not match what others think, but whatever it is, it’s probably something that honors their relationship as something both unique and special between them.
That being said, Valentine’s Day offers a challenge for everyone to express the holiday in his or her own way in the cards and gifts that are given or received in the name of romance and friendship. Though different, those two terms should never stray too far from each other.
For some folks, a gift of diamonds is the only thing that will do for Valentine’s Day. For some, Valentine’s Day means going out and enjoying some kind of romantic activity.
This could be as simple as a moonlight walk along the sand at Sunset Beach.
If you are lucky and the tide is right you can watch the waves turn an ethereal blue in the evening light.
This is thanks to an unromantic sounding “phytoplankton bloom.” As it would still be February, the night air is still a little chilly. So what else will you do but stay close to each other?
You might like to take a gondola ride through Huntington Harbour or around Naples Island in Long Beach.
A nice evening for some people might mean locking up the house or condo and making reservations for a hotel, or other hideaway for the evening.
Others might just want to hangout at a sports bar and watch “the game.”
You’ll go to a place where you don’t have to worry about making up the bedding in the morning and there is either room service at your fingertips or you could bring your own bottle of wine and preferred snacks.
Perhaps you stay at the Ayres Hotel or you rent the bed and breakfast suite above O’Malley’s on Main in Seal Beach. Either way, you can order dinner … or breakfast.
Another idea is a night on the town. You could hire a limo and ride to a classy entertainment venue such as the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts—what some refer to as our Carnegie Hall. Afterwards, perhaps you go for a nightcap at a place that has music, and if your feet are still happy you can twinkle your toes together on the light fantastic.
Valentine’s Day and how it is celebrated should be open to interpretation.
To some it might mean visiting Disneyland and sharing the rediscovery of the child inside each other.
For others, a Valentine’s Day date could be as simple as leaving one red rose on a pillow with a card that says just three words.
For this Valentine’s Day, we here at the Sun hope you don’t let it pass you by.
Dennis Kaiser is the editor of the Sun Newspapers. He can be reached at dennis@sunnews.org.
