The Accidental Valentine

Note to Weldon...with my lobster magnet

I wanted to fill a Valentine post with delectable recipes for two and budget-friendly sweetheart celebrations, but the topic that ended up feeling right was how Weldon and I stumbled through last week and found that our love was laced throughout it.

Formulating our plan for Valentine's Day this year was like trying to choose the captain of a basketball team from a group of computer geeks and art students.  Nothing seemed like a good fit for our tight budget and tighter schedule.  Although we don't make a huge deal of the day in a conventional roses/dinner/teddy bear sense, we try to pick a fun way to conscientiously celebrate our love. But an all-star option wasn't showing up for this season!  Because we rarely ever celebrate on the 14th, last Monday hit like a buzzer on the clock.  Time was ticking and the outlook was grim.  In reality, the alarm woke us before daylight and we set into our usual routine -- make breakfast, pack lunches, stoke the fire, and get Weldon on the road by 6:30.  Somewhere in the middle of all that it struck me that it wasn't just any Monday -- it was February 10th! On that day six years prior, Weldon had taken me on our very first date.  As I voiced my happy realization from the kitchen, Weldon appeared holding his blue Irish cable-knit sweater.  He'd chosen to wear it for the first time this season as his weapon of choice against the freezing temperatures.  Coincidentally, he'd also worn it on our date.  (Queue the collective "Awwww" from the audience!) Thus began our Valentine celebrating...a lovely week with a mind all its own.

Monday's anniversary was only the beginning; there's more to the story of our first date that tied into this week's pleasant surprises. A friend of ours is a guide at Mammoth Cave National Park. While mutual friends were in town from New England, our friend invited us to join them for a complimentary cave tour.  Weldon and I jumped at the opportunity.  Though our guide-friend had no way of knowing (and it took us a few minutes to realize after accepting the invitation), our first date was on this same cave tour through Mammoth Cave.  So, last Tuesday afternoon, Weldon and I not only enjoyed the fun company of friends and a spectacular personal tour of the world's longest cave system, but we relived some of the first moments of our romantic beginnings.  We couldn't have planned it any better!  Cupid, was that you?

My heart was swelling after Monday and Tuesday's romantic reminiscing.  At that point, the two of us had finally settled on spending Friday night (actual Valentine's Day) with homemade pizza, chocolates from the salvage store, and a movie at home.  All of this would have been plenty of sentiment as far as we were concerned, but there's was more on the way...

At first glance, Wednesday was an ordinary homestead day.  We had a number of tasks to accomplish, most of them involving the transformation of raw milk into butter, cheese, and yogurt.  However, with love already in the air, our day's labors translated themselves into a romantic reinforcement of the life we've chosen -- to work together and at home as much as possible; to value our time, energy, and freedom; and to produce a lot of our food.  As we busily checked things off the list, I felt that the very act of doing the work in tandem was as clear a message of my love for my husband (and his for me) as any other.  Looking back over the week, I realize that a vital piece would have been missing should the ordinariness of homesteading not had its time in the limelight alongside the week's outings and special occasions.  Days like that solidify the friendship and partnership that we treasure.  I could be wrong, but I don't think butter or cheese are on the official list of aphrodisiacs.  No matter, with all its dirty dishes and coordinated effort, it, too, was a romantic day.  To top it off, that evening we went on a date...with Weldon's parents.

To celebrate Weldon's accomplishments as a newly approved associate real estate appraiser, my in-laws generously invited us to dinner on Wednesday. The offer didn't have a timeline, but the fact that it fell on Valentine's week was a nice perk. Weldon and I appreciated the occasion to be a bit fancy and eat at a locally-sourced farm-to-table restaurant in Louisville called Harvest. (We are acquaintances with some of the farmer-owners.  The food is wonderful and the menu is reasonably priced for the high quality of ingredients.  Reader-Eaters in the area can learn more about this worthwhile eatery at harvestlouisville.com) In many respects I'm a down-to-earth, low-key kind of gal, but in my estimation there's nothing like putting on a spiffy outfit, pulling out the high heels, glossing those lips, and going somewhere special every now and again. This was my evening to feel feminine and fun.  When your man looks at you and says something along the lines of, "Wow, you look fantastic! I can't wait to be seen with you!", you're bound to feel beautiful.  And that's a good thing!  The four of us thoroughly enjoyed the "double date" -- we even shared a candied bacon, sorghum cream-filled cookie for dessert.

Actual Valentine's Day finally arrived. Though I felt pleasantly satiated from the unplanned-turned-romantic events of the week, I couldn't wait for our simple celebration at home.  The dough, mozzarella, and meatballs were homemade and waiting for me to return home from school.  The handful of chocolates were decadently stacked on the pantry shelf.  And we had a number of borrowed movies to choose from.  Perhaps romance got the better of him, but Weldon suggested we watch Doctor Zhivago -- a 1965 epic classic set during the turbulent and frigid Russian Revolution.  I'd been wanting to watch the film for over a year, but I never dreamed he'd suggest it as our Valentine flick.  I'll sum up the evening by saying that the pizza was divine, the chocolate scrumptious, and the movie depressing.  We appreciated the cultural and historical value of the film, but the romantically tragic thread certainly didn't set our hearts aflutter.  Needless to say, Weldon's sacrificial act to recommend it was endearing...and we chuckled at our consistent quirkiness in regards to Valentine celebrating.

Sure, we could have purposefully set out to commemorate the anniversary of our first date, go on a cave tour like we did six years ago, accomplish activities together that we both enjoy, dress up and go out for a nice dinner, or stay in for a romantic movie at home...but by accident? and all in one week?  In a way, the accidental nature of most of our week made the events even more romantic than if they'd been planned.  Perhaps there's more to this post about lovey-dovey dinners for two and budget-friendly Valentine's than I thought!  Our bank account is no more empty and our hearts are overflowing...sounds like the perfect Valentine's Day to me!