On Holidays

I missed my annual Groundhog Day post, which saddens me, but honestly, I'm in the saddle from 8am to 9 or 10 every night the last couple weeks. I hasn't left a lot of time for blogging. It has been very educational, however.

Today, though, I'm in my second day of meetings with Realtor committees for the Utah Association of Realtors and (today) Utah County Association, and since someone has an open wireless network nearby, I can take a second and check in.

Groundhog Day is one of my favorite holidays, mostly - okay, exclusively - because of the movie, which is a badly underrated classic. The transformation of a self-centered, unhappy, complaining jerk into a selfless, talented, giving, kind, and gracious individual is always heartwarming to me, as, of course, that's the transformation we're all trying to make as well. There are hundreds of lessons to be learned from the movie; I get a new one every year. This year was the realization that the improvements Phil makes are all spiritual. He loses any physical improvements (or degradations) every morning, and the only thing he gets to take with him, so to speak, are talents and knowledge, spiritual improvements. That's exactly what will happen with us one day. I'm not a reincarnationist, but I firmly believe that we're going to get to keep repeating this "day", in some fashion, until we get it right.

The good news is, we can get it right, and we're going to get all the time we need to become what we need to.

But let's talk about St. Valentine's Day, since that was yesterday. I'm not a fan. Jane Galt blogged about it yesterday and said essentially what I would say, so I'll not repeat it except to say that the entire holiday feels very artificial to me, and has since I was about 15. For a teenager, any holiday that encourages romance is a good one, but as an adult, I really don't like it much. I don't think I require an excuse to do something nice for my wife, and it's unlikely that whatever I choose to do on that day will feel natural and like a true expression of my affection for the greatest woman I know.

But I guess I ought not to get too hoity-toity about it. It's a great holiday for my good friends over at Pioneer Party and Copy and Flowers on Main. My kids love it. I got a lovely valentine from my little Charlotte and a wonderful note from my lover girl that will stay taped to my steering wheel for a good while. Today a rather unusual and creative surprise will arrive at my door (one day late), and that's likely to be met with joy and gladness. So I'll get off my high horse and just let things be.

Lincoln's birthday was Monday, and wasn't celebrated by anyone, which is a shame. I'm reading Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin, and it's excellent. I had way too little an appreciation of Lincoln, and am happy to remedy that sad situation.

And Monday is Presidents' Day for both Lincoln and Washington, so I guess it's fitting that I just finished reading 1776, by the brilliant David McCulloch. What amazing men were those that went before us.