I Love the Month of Love

Oh, February. Tiniest month of the whole year, yet filled with to the very brim with good shit.

February is one of my very favorite months in the whole, wide calendar.

Why?

Because it's my birthday, duh.

There are actually many reasons that I love February, and it being my birthday month is only one part of that. Here is a short list of things I love about February.

1. The annual Fill the Boot for Burns drive. Firefighters hang out in one of the busiest intersections in Sacramento County and dash through traffic collecting dollars in, well, boots to raise money for the Firefighter's Burn Institute (FFBI). The FFBI was started after a local tragedy 40 years ago. From their Mission Statement: The Firefighters Burn Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 in 1973, for the purpose of establishing a local burn treatment facility; providing recovery programs for burn survivors; providing fire and burn prevention through public education; funding education for burn team professionals, firefighters, and burn survivors; and supporting burn treatment and rehabilitation research.

It's one of my favorite fundraisers of the year, and I make an effort to drive through that intersection more than once during the weekend.

2. Flowering Quince will be blooming soon! One of my very favorite flowering plants. I love how a winter-barren bush of twigs becomes a sudden explosion of fantasticly fuscia color. I love seeing the contrast of aggressively cheerful pops of color on branches otherwise void of life and light. It is a marriage of the dichotomies of alive and dead and this blend is one of my favorite things.

3. It's the month of love! What would a mushy, gushy, sticky sweet Piscean Girl like me love more than a whole lot of love? Not much, let me just say. Ordinarily I love all the parts, including all the decadent treats that go along with.... Why, America, why do we associate love with food? This is why we're all fat prudes.

I'm just saying.

There is a lot to love about my favorite birthday month, and I can go on and on.

What's your favorite thing about February?