Valentine’s Day is coming. I know this because I’ve seen merchandise appropriate for the day on display in the stores for a number of weeks. That is only logical. Christmas and New Years are past. We have to have something to look forward to and buy for. Magazines get into the act as well. Valentine issues are out with recipes, party instructions, decorating ideas and gift (believe it or not) suggestions. Ironically, some of these magazines will have in them stories about days gone by when life was simpler, time passed more slowly and the high point and the whole idea behind Valentine’s Day was the valentine a child made out of colored paper and a scrap of ribbon—all by him- or herself.

Ah, but where are the snows of yesteryear?