Love is in the Air

It’s May, and in Central Florida love is in the air. Literally. And on the ground. Crawling on walls. Clinging to window screens. Swarming our cars. Splattering on our windshields. Dissolving our paint.

What kind of love is that? Glad you asked. It’s the love bug. Also known as the March fly, although why I do not know since they take flight twice a year—in May and September.

In late spring and early fall, adult love bugs swarm up out of the grasses and mate. The male dies, but the happy couple remains co-joined while the female flies around for a few days. Blech! Adults live less than a week, but I have to tell you, these little buggers are the bane of my existence while they’re in flight.

They don’t bite—thank goodness—but they have enough heft that if you walk into a cloud of them, you know it. My advice? Don’t swat. They leave a nasty stain. They’re attracted to heat, and hover in huge swarms over the roadways, making it a good time of year to own a car wash. Or a radiator shop. Many a car owner has faced expensive repairs after bug bodies clogged their car’s air intake.

Talk about a love gone bad.

Some say love bugs were a present from my alma mater. But the story that they escaped from a UF science experiment is only urban myth. They actually migrated up from Central America, passing through several southern states before finding Florida's moist climate to their liking.

Lucky us.

All that being said, I simply don’t like them. I don’t like bugs in general. I hate and fear spiders. And love bugs make my skin crawl. Which I can handle, I guess, as long as there aren’t any love bugs crawling on me.





Love bugs crawling on the wall outside my office made me close my window blinds.

ROMANTIC QUOTES

I don’t have much to blog about today. I’m busy trying to make a Feb 15 deadline. But I was reading our local paper this morning with breakfast and there was an article about Valentine’s Day and some favorite romantic movie quotes. They caught my attention and I thought I’d share some with you.

This one goes right to the heart.
"I’d rather spend a lifetime with you then to live all the ages of this world alone."
Arwen
Lord of the Rings

Ah, true love.
"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with a person, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Harry
When Harry Met Sally

What romance novels are all about.
"You make me wanna be a better man."
Melvin Udall
As Good as it Gets

This quote is true in life; not just on Valentine’s Day.
"A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others."
The Wizard
The Wizard of Oz

This next quote fits the book I’m writing. The hero and heroine are on opposite sides of a legal matter but love finds a way to bring them together.
"Even if we never speak again after tonight, please know that I’m forever changed because of who you are and what you’ve meant to me…"
Holden McNeil
Chasing Amy

And my favorite…
You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how."
Rhett Butler
Gone With the Wind

Gotta love Rhett. I never got what Scarlett saw in the wimpy Ashley.

Do you have a favorite quote? Or which is your favorite from the above?

Wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day filled with love.


Linda
www.lindawarren.net
Skylar’s Outlaw Jan ‘10

Hopes, Dreams and Wedding Things

From the moment my son was born—even before if I were honest—I’ve dreamed of a better life for him. Although my own life is admittedly good, I wanted him to be healthier, more at peace with himself and others, get a higher education, achieve success earlier or, in short, have a better future than the one I’ve carved out for myself.

By and large, he’s fulfilled those dreams, along with a few of his own. He combined both our goals by playing baseball all the way through college, managing to graduate with honors. He landed a terrific job, sprang up the ladder into management, bought a wonderful house. Last week, to the applause of our closest friends and family, he realized one of my biggest dreams when he slipped a simple white band on the elegantly manicured finger of his best friend, the love of his life, and my new daughter-in-law.

This girl—young woman, actually—is everything I could have ever wanted for my son. Of course she’s beautiful, with glossy raven hair, dancing brown eyes and a figure most women my age would give their eye teeth to have again. She’s also kind, generous, soft-hearted and close enough to her own family to assure me that she has her priorities straight. Most importantly, when my son looks at her, he is filled with so much happiness, he glows. And she glows back.

But sometimes, to achieve your own goal, you have to muck with someone else’s.

They married in an enormous old church, one with aisles on either side of long, centered pews. The wedding planner, a woman with her own vision for the ceremony, insisted my son stand on the far right while the bridal party entered from the far left. Which meant he couldn’t see his bride come through the doors into the sanctuary. Alternatives and compromises were suggested and soundly rejected until the groom, in the interest of having “the perfect wedding,” agreed to stand where he was told and wait to see his bride once she cleared the final aisle. But some dreams cannot be denied, and, as soon as the Wedding March sounded, my son left his assigned spot by the minister and crossed the dais so he could watch the woman of his dreams walk down the aisle to him…a move that brought tears to every eye in the church. (Okay, so maybe the move clashed with the wedding planner's dream, but she went with the flow.)

Now that the happy couple is off on their honeymoon, I realize that my hopes and dreams require updating. List-maker that I am, I'm tempted to start another list. Or maybe, in the interest of being green, I’ll simply recycle the one I have for the next generation.

What dreams do you have for your children? For yourself? And how will you go about achieving their fulfillment?

Love Letters

There aren’t many things more special than a love letter. The only thing that might make it extra special would be a postmark from, oh, let’s say . . . the village of love. Love, Saskatchewan, that is. Population: 55.

Yes, it’s a real place, located on the Canadian prairie, about 225 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon. Just follow the signs.

You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see the heart-shaped welcome sign that proclaims “You are now in Love.”

For years people have been making the trip to this small village so they could mail a special letter or a Valentine and have it postmarked from Love. As requests for this service began to increase, former postmistress Pauline McKinnon suggested to Canada Post that Love should have its very own cancellation stamp. She came up with a design and Canada Post agreed.

Visit the blog of wedding photographer Kirstie Tweed to see a photo of the postmark and to read a romantic little story about a bride and groom’s pre-wedding trip to Love.

Love’s current postmistress, Joanne Munroe, has kept up the tradition and she receives hundreds of requests every year. To have your Valentines, love letters or even your wedding invitations postmarked from Love, simply send them to the Love post office. The envelope can be pre-stamped if you have Canadian postage, or you can include an international reply coupon. Then mail them to:

The Postmistress
Love Post Office
Love, SK S0J 1P0
CANADA

Thinking about making the trip yourself? Wondering what to do while you’re in Love?

If you plan to be there in February, you can take in the annual Valentine Winter Festival, beginning with a pancake breakfast, followed by competitions ranging from pillow fighting to trap setting, and ending with an evening cabaret at the community center. Just be prepared for winter weather on the Canadian prairie!

At any time of year you can stop for coffee at Cupid’s Café or shop for gifts and antiques at The Love Barn.

And of course you’ll want to stop by the post office and mail that special letter. From Love. With love.

Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
thewritersideoflife.blogspot.com