When the sun comes out....

Its always a bit of chore to get up and start your day on those cold winter mornings, feeling your way across a cold floor in bare feet to reach the bathroom, pulling faces at yourself as you look in the mirror, wondering what you could have possibly done last night to look half as bad as you do this morning, and finally getting dressed and into the kitchen for that life saving mug of tea to be met by the dark, damp mornings that resemble winter.... Thankfully, we have had a run of the most beautiful weather I can remember for February, and yes this is still February! Not to mention a run of fairly lucky breaks with the surf conditions, and perhaps its not every year that Valentines day falls in the midst of all these other joyous things. But I know that when the sun shines at any time of year it puts me in the mood for picnics, and perhaps a little romance, here and there.
In the retail world valentines day is up there with Halloween, Christmas and Easter, because for some reason, under the constraints of social pressure and all in the name of 'love', we splash out on cards, chocolate, perfume, dinners, flowers, romantic keep sakes and other such gifts to give to our loved one on the 14th of February. I must admit, that currently I'm rather disorganised, I have no card, no flowers ordered, no sweet verse to whisper into my other half's ear, and to be honest I'm not quite sure that such flamboyant displays are where I'm at with my romantic inclinations! I'm more of a disconcerting client, I want something a little different this year, and the next, and I'm gauging that unless I use a little creative flair, there won't be much on the market to satisfy my needs. Maybe that's a hole in the valentines market? or maybe its a suggestion that my romantic ideas are a little off the beaten track. What ever the conclusion, I'm still not getting serviced by the industry, customers won't necessarily have the time to look for you, or the something a little bit different you might have in mind, I certainly don't, what I want is someone to do that for me.
So if tomorrow, I'm a little empty handed, I will probably run to the garage, get a quick card and some flowers, a bar of Galaxy and a bike magazine and present my little offering, in some sort of red wrapping and be done for this year, but if there is anyone else like me who could have spent a small fortune on something different but didn't know where to look, well I guess that 's the markets fault. Lets hope next year retail moves on a little from the red ribboned 'I Love You', and puts a little romance back into valentines day....