Watch out for Friday the 14th. Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is looming on the calendar.
I thought I’d take the moment to express appreciation for some of the love-worthy things for which Hallmark does not create big glittery heart-shaped greeting cards.
Among the loves of my life: The lady around the block from me who has an elaborate Valentine’s Day draping of red light strands in her front yard. They illuminate the dark wintery nights of our February gloom.
The flat lay of the land out here on the Kansas prairie that enables unobstructed views of unpaintably colorful sunsets and awesome sunrises. Surely they deserve a Valentine.
Also deserving: Those cardinals who were singing their little hearts out on the still bare limbs of some pin oaks this morning as we had our predawn dog walk.
How about a Valentine for the Kansas City Chiefs who, however briefly, gave us all a chance to root for and to celebrate the same thing in spite of our many other divisions?
Shouldn’t Hallmark make cards for those Kellogg overpass designers who worked some swirls and style into the concrete? A nod to aesthetics, even on highway bridges, is worthy of a bit of appreciation.
Flowers, or perhaps a still-life depiction of flowers, ought to go out to the Wichita arts community, especially those who started the small galleries in overlooked downtown buildings about 30 years ago. They started our downtown’s revitalization.
So here’s to those heart lifters that aren’t sent cards, bouquets or candy. We can still send them the Valentine of our appreciation on Friday the 14th.
