Have a heart-shaped Valentine's Day

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The calendar reminds us that Groundhog Day was last Thursday. If the chubby fellow’s weather predictions are correct we’ll have six more weeks of cold weather as we had a nice sunshiny day on Thursday.

Despite the fact Mr. Groundhog probably saw his shadow, we’ve got nothing to complain about. Our winter has been milder than usual. Daffodils are already popping up and beginning to open on the south side of the house.

Now Valentine’s Day isless than a week away and we’re seeing heart-shaped decorations everywhere we turn. They were hanging Valentine decorations at the library when my niece and I visited Tuesday and when I went for lunch Thursday at the senior center their lunchroom was adorned with seasonal decorations. I saw heartshaped wreaths on doors in the neighborhood too.

The heart has represented many qualities over the years. Centuries ago when “Cro-Magnon” man painted a heart on the wall of his cave it symbolized agoal; if he could capture the heart of a powerful enemy, then that power would become his. When a person is unusually devoted to a cause he is said to really “put his heart into it.” Later the heart began to symbolize compassion. A person begging for mercy may ask his benefactor to “have a heart.”

In Mary Emmerling’s “American Country Hearts,” she relates that it was not until the Middle Ages that the emblem of the heart came to represent love and romance. “With Christianity on the rise throughout Europe, hearts began to appear in illuminated manuscripts and in religious manuscripts, symbolizing man’s love for God. Later the heart came to express an idealized kind of love between man and woman.Hearts were embroidered, appliquéd and woven onto court costumes and armor, further secularizing the heart motif.”

In American folk art, the heart motif truly came into its own. 18th Century colonists decorated even the simplest household objects with hearts. Everything from cheese molds to hatboxes had hearts carved, painted or chiseled onto them. Often these were tokens of affection from members of the household to women in the house. In return these women embellished their quilts, household linens and samplers with hearts, flowers and other decorations that expressed their caring.

Emmerling describes how her passion for hearts and heart-shaped objects began with the gift of a charm bracelet filled withsilver hearts from her grandmother. When she grew older and discovered her love of antiques and American folk art, her collection of hearts really started to grow. Now she feels a special affinity for almost any heart-shaped object; and she says, as she travels across the country, her eye is automatically drawn to them. Her collection includes many she has been given as gifts over the years and her fascination with them prompted the publication of her book by Clarkson N. Potter in 1988.

Jo Northrop, in her Simple Country Pleasures column, suggests that homemakers take the time to plan a special meal for Valentine’s Day. Prepare something in the shape of a heart. Bake a cake or mold a gelatin salad. Or if you’re handy at sewing,make heart-shaped crafts for friends and family. Make plump hearts of calico, gingham or whatever scraps you have on hand and fill them with sachet. Or stuff them and put on a ribbon so they can be tied to a shade pull or homemade mobile. Make a crib quilt or a regular quilt with a heart motif.

For those who can’t sew Northrop suggests getting out your paints and stencils. Take time to prepare a unique valentine for a loved one, maybe a photo album filled with special pictures of your life together, or fill a booklet with your favorite recipes and give to someone who loves to cook.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 02/08/2012