What a week! The dragon has entered the conversation, capturing our imagination with all the thrill and anticipation of a new George R. R. Martin novel. That soaring scaly fire-breathing beast can both incinerate an entire village and still allow Khaleesi to direct its fury. As we slide further into 2024 one can only dream this powerful authority will grant us abundance and good fortune. Might we hope that a beast with deadly talons and a powerful tail will sweep ignorance out of view to reveal truth?

We are a household that admires and respects athletics. Team sports, solitary endeavors, getting out there with your pals and having fun on the field, all of it. From the GOAT to the novice, we applaud all effort. We don’t however devote our weekends or evenings to always watching these athletes take the stage, but on Super Bowl Sunday, we are snack ready much like the other 123.4 million viewers doing the same. Wow, right? The most watched TV show in history… Perhaps aided by a pop-star of ginormous proportion standing in a Million$+ Suite along with a few gal-pals and family to watch those boys in tights dash and clash about for a few hours. I certainly do wish that here in these United States we could harness some of that enthusiasm to do something about climate change, gun control, homelessness, hate crimes or any of the myriad of issues plaguing us on the daily, but as it doesn’t, we will enjoy our plates of wings and dip like the rest, dancing through the halftime show unabashedly with all the glee one can muster in the midst of bleak February in the frozen Northeast.

As it does always, Mardi Gras heralds Lent, and 40 days of depravation ensues. But this week this period of suffering hit on the same fabric of our favorite collective date-night of decadent desserts and bubbly toasts. Of course you really do need to be well-indoctrinated into the Christian sensibility of suffering to fully grasp the power of self-penury. Not that I knock the restorative power of self-control, but I am not convinced that 40 days of lack will in fact add to the betterment of my soul. I do however applaud those who strive to do less harm and curtail hate in their heart during this reflective time.

Which leaves us with love. Whether it is waking at dawn with a little one eager to greet another blissful day of toddlering or those who do, do, and do even more to care for an elder, this day of love is broad and has little to do with chocolate, despite Hershey’s claims. It seems to me to be a day to realize how fortunate we are, those of us who live with one who isn’t judgmental, who encourages us to seek our own joys; or if you have discovered to be that someone for yourself, better yet. This all too short life is pitted with sorrows, but if we can pluck out on day to don something blood red and announce that love rules, I am all for it.