my favorite holiday

I think my feeling are best shown by this comment that I made while having coffee with Michelle and Joes the other day..."I freaking hate Valentine's Day." I never liked it as a kid and now, I think of it as a good day of revenue for florists and those that make chocolate...for me however...not liking it.

I have to say my best Valentine's Day was last year...I was on a small island by the name of Stewart...Stewart Island is the little land mass right below the south island of New Zealand. Now that's a lot of islands for you...if only I could draw you a map! I spent the day hiking with some cool people that I had met there...2 American hippie girls who had just graduated from a small liberal college in Minnesota, and a former rugby player from Auckland named Vern. Vern was on a mission to spread the teaching of Reki healing...as he explained it to me, a type of healing that was done through energy and transference of power through a Reki master. We had many conversations regarding this matter...and I'm still skeptical but...whatever floats your boat...right? Anyhow...very cool people...we had spent the last 3 days together at Ann's Place...a charming hostel with 10 beds and a heater than only came on between the hours of 8:30 and 9:30 pm. Although it was summer there...just let it be known that it was fairly cold, especially at night. After our hike, they all boarded the boat back to the main island...it was their day to leave. This crossing on the ferry is known to make most people extremely seasick and I wished them the best as they boarded...the American girls were not looking forward to the return ride because they had a rough arrival...we had talked the last 3 days about remedies for seasickness...later I got an e-mail from one of the girls saying that they did fair a little better...so I guess ginger does work! As for Vern, he was planning to use his Reki powers on himself to calm his stomach! I returned to Ann's Place to find the hostel full of German guys getting ready to take a 14 day track the next day...This track (the Raikura possibly?) is known for being muddy...as in mud up to your knees and sometimes even your waist muddy...they tried to talk me into going with them. Needless to say, I declined (is that any big surprise?). The only mention of this day was someone saying, "Hey, I forgot it was Valentine's Day...in celebration does anyone want to share some wine?" You've got to love those German guys! Oh how I miss New Zealand and the escape of all things that are frivolous.

In the words of Lincoln "Happy Single Awareness Day" and if you really like this day, I apologize.