Who Was Saint Valentine?

Valentine’s Day is the second most popular holiday to send a card. The Greeting Card Association claims that an estimated one billion cards are sent each year. Yet, most of the people who send the cards have no idea who Saint Valentine was. Even historians cannot agree.

According to some authorities, there were two Valentines. One was a priest and doctor who was martyred in the year 269, and the other was the bishop of Terni, who was brought to Rome to be tortured and executed in 273. Others say it was the same person. Both men (or the same man) have legends attributed to them concerning love and matrimony, legends that may or may not be true.

According to one rendition, Roman Emperor Claudius II issued an edict saying that his soldiers were not allowed to be married. Apparently, Claudius thought that married soldiers weren't as good as single soldiers. As you might imagine, this news was not well received among the military men. Valentine obviously disagreed with the edict and continued to marry young couples, even though Claudius forbade it. When Claudius found out, he ordered Valentine to be beheaded, and the sentence was soon carried out.

Whether the stories involve one man or two, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D.

Recognition of the holiday clearly had taken hold by the Middle Ages. At that time, it was believed that birds begin mating in the middle of February. Even Chaucer wrote in the fourteenth century, "For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day, whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate."

Nonetheless, this martyred saint probably is responsible for the fact that many of us are alive and walking the earth today. Without the excuse of Saint Valentine's Day, how many of our ancestors would never have courted and consequently never have married? How many of us would not have been born? Perhaps we all owe a debt of gratitude to Saint Valentine for our very existence.

Groundhog Day

German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the precursor to Groundhog Day, the hedgehog (or badger) will see its shadow and six more weeks of winter will follow. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania they continued this tradition, using groundhogs instead of hedgehogs to predict the weather.
The first official Groundhog Day was celebrated on February 2, 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with a proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit by the newspaper's editor, Clymer Freas: "Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow." The legendary first Groundhog Day trip to Gobbler's Knob was made the following year by a group of spirited groundhog hunters who dubbed themselves "The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Clymer, a member of the club, used his editorial clout to proclaim that Phil, the Punxsutawney Groundhog, was the one and only official weather prognosticating groundhog.
Phil's fame began to spread and newspapers from around the world began to report his predictions. Growing legions of fans started making the trek to Punxsutawney every February 2, and with the release of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, the crowds began to number in the tens of thousands. Phil's yearly Groundhog Day predictions are actually even entered into the Congressional Record!
Have a wonderful Day !

Heart of Glass

Chihuly: Glass Artist by Margaret Haberman

Daryl Smith, 39, blows and twirls a glob of glowing glass at the end of a long stainless steel pipe, rolling the molten mass on a table to fashion an orange-red icicle shape at the Seattle studio of American glass master Dale Chihuly. Using an array of torches, files, crimps, tweezers and shears, Smith curls, imprints and cuts the fiery shape—moving it in and out of a 2,150-degree furnace to keep the material pliable —before a fellow craftsman places the glass in a cooling oven.

The finished object is one of 1,800 pieces being used to create a massive sculpture for Chihuly’s most ambitious project to date—the 1½-acre Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit opening later this year in Seattle. The venture’s hallmark glass house will feature a massive installation 100 feet long and 25 feet high.

“People are going to see it and go, ‘Whoa!’” says Chihuly, 70. One of America’s most prominent and prolific living artists, Chihuly is credited with elevating the craft of glassmaking to a fine art. His inventive sculptures—abstract baskets, colorful sea forms, lavish towers and effusive chandeliers—appear in the permanent collections of more than 200 museums worldwide and countless private collections.

Chihuly himself is a striking figure, with a barrel chest, a patch covering his blind left eye and a crown of curly hair. He offers a simple explanation for his success in recasting glass as a popular artistic movement.

“I think people like to look at something they’ve never seen before,” he says. “And that’s what I try to do.”

The charismatic artist and his team create Chihuly’s glassworks in a studio along Seattle’s waterfront housed in a former racing shell factory that he dubbed the Boathouse.

Inside the “hot shop” before a row of furnaces, Smith wears sunglasses and works as the gaffer, or head glassblower, using heat and motion to stretch glass into various forms. For the icicle shape, he gyrates the superheated glass bubble attached to his pipe until it sags and droops—a signature technique of his boss.

“Glass has a mind of its own, and the way I work is using fire and centrifugal force and gravity,” Chihuly explains.

His work has become a source of pride in his native Tacoma, thanks in part to the artist and many public displays of his sculptures in the city’s cultural district. The most famous is the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a 500-foot-long pedestrian walkway that was built in 2002.

Chapter 4: Christmas EEEEK

Chapter 4: Christmas EEEEK

“It’s Christmas” the children yelled as they ran through the house the next morning. Squeals and laughter, paper rattling and shouts of joy, which woke the little mouse from his slumber. Then the room began to move and he felt dizzy, “an earthquake” he whispered in disbelief. He realized that someone or something was moving his house. The children were speaking in excited tones about their gifts and how wonderful Christmas was.
Mother wanted to take some pictures of all the gifts and the children with the gingerbread house also. The little boy saw for the first time that the house had little chew marks all around it. “I think something has been eating our gingerbread house” he said. The girl saw that the gumdrop had fallen away from the back door and said
“This is strange; we never made a back door, but look.”
She plopped the house down on the table in disbelief. “We have a mouse inside our gingerbread house!” The tiny inhabitant could feel his heart about to explode; he had been found out and would most likely be taken out and executed by the toy soldier. If only he could explain that he was not a freeloader but an honest humble mouse whose only wish was to have this royal home as his own to love and care for.
The mother looked inside at the trembling terrified occupant. Compassion filled her heart as she saw one tiny tear drop from his black beady eyes. “Christmas is a time for giving and sharing” she said. “This little creature is welcome to this gingerbread house for as long as he wishes to have it.”
Gladly the little boy and girl gently carried the house and its owner out to the barn. They made a nice corner filled with straw and sang quietly as they placed the gingerbread house down in solemn ceremony. Quietly they closed the barn door and they felt the wonder of knowing that they had done a great service for a little creature and truly kept the spirit of Christmas.
Huge snowflakes fell upon their faces as they walked silently back to their home. It had been their best Christmas and they always remembered it as the year of the Christmas Mouse and the Gingerbread House.

Chapter 3: Christmas Eve

Chapter 3: Christmas Eve

The week had passed quickly as each day was filled with parties and shopping, parades and festivities. The gingerbread house sat to the side of the room on a table which was soon overlooked. The children were excited now about the presents piling up beneath the tree and only glanced occasionally at the gingerbread house.
They did remark at times that the cottony snow seemed to be patchy in spots. Somehow the gingerbread house was beginning to look a bit worn out. It even seemed a little ragged around the edges.
All the while a certain small inhabitant of a recently acquired property began to do a little Christmas shopping of his own. He would spend his evenings carefully browsing through toy boxes as if he were shopping at the finest malls. A few building blocks, a tiny doll chair and a couple of dolly tea cups just in case he had a visitor. He worked diligently to decorate his home and make it as comfortable as anyone could.
Suddenly he heard a loud rumble which startled him. He hid behind the toy box only to have the sound follow him. He rubbed his furry belly and realized he was hungry and the noise was his own tummy announcing the fact.
“How convenient that I just happen to know where the best bed and breakfast is!” Scampering up to his gingerbread house, he gathered a marshmallow and a pretzel and a small corner of the chocolate front door. “S’mores” he said and with that he curled up on the new couch and drank some hot cocoa from his tiny cup. He stretched out and sank off into a very deep sleep.

Chapter 2: An Unseen Visitor

Chapter 2: An Unseen Visitor

Having been tucked into their warm cozy beds, the children soon drifted off into slumber and dreams. All was dark and quiet in the house except for the gentle breathing of the sleeping family.
Tip-toeing ever so lightly, the grey furry mouse stealthily climbed the table that held the gingerbread house. His little heart skipped a beat as he stood gazing in delight for a moment at his dream home.
He stood upright and clasped his little paws together as if saying a silent prayer of thanks before he partook of his bountiful blessings. He was overflowing with joy. Suddenly he jumped up and began to dance a little jig, circling the stone faced soldier who never blinked or moved from his post.
“Oh Christmas Joy” he squeaked to the marshmallow snowman as he shook the pretzel hand offered in friendship. The snowman never seemed to mind either when the jubilant mouse gave him a wink and a sharp jab with his elbow right into his soft belly.
With a toothy grin he asked politely for permission to make this his new residence, only to have the toy soldier stare blankly into the air. “You’re not much for conversation are you?” said the mouse. He saluted the soldier and said, “Sir, I accept your kind offer of hospitality and I shall move in immediately. Thank you.”
His nose twitched side to side as he studied the construction of his new home. He decided to make a small entrance for himself in the back which would be less noticeable. So he began to chew away.
Each morsel was such a delight that his eyes rolled in satisfaction as he carefully gnawed the doorway. He was very tidy even though he was a mouse and never wasted a single crumb.
He dusted his little paws and decided to use just a tiny bit of cotton snow for his bedding. He picked and plucked and toted his bedding inside the gingerbread house.
Just as he was about to get into his new bed he noticed one of the gumdrops along the hedge was leaning over a bit. He tugged at it and placed it right in front of his little door. “Now that will secure my home from any unwanted pests” he said. And off he went to sleep with ginger dust on his whiskers.

The Christmas Mouse and the Gingerbread House

The Christmas Mouse and the Gingerbread House
By Cheryl Thomas

Chapter 1: The House is Made

Not so long ago or very far away, there lived a little boy and girl who had a Christmas wish. They dreamed of making a beautiful gingerbread house fully decorated with all their favorite candies.
Then one week before Christmas, Mother surprised them. She had gathered together all the ingredients for the gingerbread and helped the children make their Christmas wish come true.
They rolled the dough and cut the house out piece by piece. Quietly the Christmas music filled the background as the children imagined how the finished house would look.
The spicy scent of the gingerbread was so inviting that it beckoned Christmas to come directly in. Soon the family was gathered around the table decorating the smooth walls of the gingerbread house.
There was white snowy icing on the roof top and gumdrop hedges around the house. The windows were made of pretzels and a large marshmallow sat on top for a chimney. A fence was made of candy canes and the front door was a tiny chocolate bar. Miniature marshmallows were made into snowmen on the front lawn.
The boy ran into his room and quickly returned with a toy soldier whom he placed beside the front door as a guard.
They drizzled icing along the edges of the roof which looked like icicles. The little girl shook edible glitter all over the top of the gingerbread which made the whole house shine. They placed puffs of cotton all around for the effect of snow. All stood back and gazed with satisfaction at the beautiful gingerbread house.
Quietly across the room other eyes beheld the gingerbread house in loving adoration. No one suspected what a great impression the house had already made on the tiniest member of their household.