Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday started out pretty ordinary, other than the glow I was still feeling from the hike on Sunday. Plopped down at the Cyber Stop to get to work. Somewhere mid-morning, I got a call from Russell, but let it go into voice mail because Robyn and I were hashing out some programming problem or other.

I remembered to check my voice mail as I was leaving for the day. Russell's message was to wish me a happy Valentine's Day, because I'm still the man he loves, even if we can't be together. Those were almost his exact words.

I ducked into the Dupont Hair Cuttery to get my red locks shorn, then joined up with Doug M. and D.M. at the Starbucks near the Virginia Square metro station before heading back to Doug's house for the heart circle.

The heart circle drew about eight men. Being held on Valentine's Day, a fair amount of the thoughts and feelings shared concerned love and romance. I talked a little about Russell's message to me and how that made me feel. I paraphrased a quote from Geography of the Heart and I told them about heterodoxy's thought about appreciating the men in our lives without needing to possess them. The sharing was wonderful, as always. It was like having seven valentines!

Afterwards, a group of us went out to the Cowboy Cafe near Doug's home for half-price burgers and fun. When we broke up the evening, I walked back to Doug's while he drove David to the Metro. Along the way, I saw a woman struggling with two HUGE suitcases. Each one was large enough for me to curl up into. I offered to help her with them, and she gratefully accepted. Her name is Wendy and she's moving in from Dallas, so she had packed the last of her stuff to bring with her. When I continued on my way, I had a grin on my face. Helping folks is such a nice feeling.

I cleaned up a little before Doug got home, putting the main room back in order, cleaning up the kitchen, tackling the dishes. He and I quickly went to bed, where we lay together and talked. Before we drifted off, I told him I loved him. It was wonderful to be able to speak the words and have them mean exactly what I said. No possession, just appreciation.

This morning we woke up and made love, making him about an hour late to work. Me? I don't have to be at work at seven a.m., so I was actually about thirty minutes early.

I have a wonderful life. :-)

And another thing

I also got a Valentine's Day card yesterday. Doug hid it under my pillow. :-)

I still occasionally catch of whiff of his scent on me. Rowr.