I've got my love to keep me warm

Today

It's Valentine's day and the clouds have parted long enough to give us a chilly, watery glimpse of sun. For this we are grateful and for the chance that the temperature might heave itself up above 5 degrees. The Met Office loves to offer comparisons against the norm, but there doesn't seem to be one for Valentine's Day.

In My Day

I am put in mind of two examples. Valentine's 1994; Paul was on late shift  which meant that I could expect him home by about 11.45 pm. I bought a half bottle of champagne, thinking that we could toast the day before bedtime. Sometime during the evening, I noticed that snow was falling heavily. Paul called from the ambulance station at about 11.15 to say he was on his way. "It's snowing hard here, " I told him "take care..." The snow kept falling. I climbed into bed and kept warm with my book, placing the champagne & glasses by the beside. The time ticked by.I thought of Paul's journey home from Weston Super-Mare, up Burrington Combe. The snow thickened. The champagne warmed up. I repeatedly imagined that I heard the car in the drive. Eventually at 1.15 am Paul arrived home, having taken a longer route to avoid Burrington Combe and almost coming a cropper at Oakhill. "I've got some champagne," I said "but it's a bit warm; you probably won't want it." "Give it here!" he replied, snuggling into the warm bed where we toasted Valentine and Paul's safe arrival.

Moving swiftly on to 1998. February was warm. My diary records daffodils out by mid-month. On 14th the day dawned clear and warm with a temperature in the upper teens. I packed a picnic and we set off for the Swannery at Abbotsbury in Dorset. The weather stayed glorious and became warmer and warmer as we drove south. Eventually we arrived at the Swannery and ate our picnic in the car park (including champagne) and headed off towards the entrance. Alas for warm weather! The hot sun had brought in a sea mist.We stumbled around the Swannery, cold and damp, laughing our heads off. 

All of which goes to show how irrelevant the weather is for the really important celebrations.