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February is considered by many the month of the love.  This got me thinking, why February?  Why not another month?  So I put on my thinking cap, and sat down and started doing some research.  My college days are behind me now, and my skills have somewhat atrophied, but once I got going I was a marvel to behold.
     I had to have someplace to start, so I did the obvious - I started digging for meaning in the word itself: February.  I had spent the better part of a day pouring over old books, and clicking around on-line and wasn't finding anything worthwhile.  Or so I thought.  I brought home my notes and began sifting through them trying to make some sense of what I'd found.  Little by little a disturbing picture began to emerge.
     It started with the Greeks oddly enough.  Febrichiary, was the original word.  Meaning sloth like, or unimaginative.  Of all the ancients the Greeks had the best sense of humour.  A now mostly forgotten philosopher/comedian Valus en Tynus started a tradition of giving his loved one a collection of sweet meats and flowers on the 14th day of Febrichiary.  This was particularly funny, in that very few people ever remembered the day, as it was after all the month of sloth.  Valus, being a rather entrepreneurial sort also started what evolved into the modern greeting card.  The "sorry I forgot about you" scroll.
     Of course over time, the day simply became known as Valentine's Day.  Most men still unconsciously think of February as a lazy month, and more often than not forget to get their loved one a gift on the 14th.  However, we're pretty good at sucking up after the fact with a card.
     So as I look forward to getting an "I'm sorry" card for my wife the week of the 15th, I tip my cap to old Valus, and the month of sloth.

Jevster 
February 1999