“Roses are red, violets are blue, if skunks had a college they’d call it P.U.”

Before it closed, Phillips University in Enid had a skunk mascot. Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog, emerged from his burrow to see his shadow yesterday. That predicts six more weeks of winter.

We just finished the coldest month of the year, but February is no cake walk except for the bright spot of Valentine’s Day. My second-only-to-Christmas favorite holiday, the day after is my birthday. Hopefully I will celebrate again this year.

Valentines from classmates were always fun to receive and some had some heart-shaped candies attached. Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine who, in the third century, defied Roman Law by marrying soldiers. Or was it another Valentine that helped Christians escape persecution?

The celebration began as a pagan festival called Lupercalia. It was dedicated to the Roman God of Agriculture and Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. Cupid, the child with bow and arrow, is traced back to 700 B.C. and named after the Greek God of fertility, Eros. The first Valentine was sent by a British Duke named Charles in 1415 and were finally mass produced in the 1840s.

One of my prized collections is of Valentines shared by my mother and father in the 1920s. I can only describe them as “frilly” and “corny.” Are they any different today? The celebration is expected to generate $26 billion in revenue this year. It may be “corny,” but I love it.