Ash Wednesday is in two days. Three if you count today. This marks the beginning of Lent. The ashes symbolize sorrow for past wrongs. Foreheads of churchgoers are marked with the shape of the cross is ashes as a sign of penitance.

People “give up,” certain things for Lent. A friend of mine quit eating beef. He found that to be a lot harder than he thought it would be but hung in there for the whole time.

Another friend gave up Pepsi. One day, I spotted her drinking pop and asked her if she’d ‘given up giving up.’ 

 ”No,” she said, ”this isn’t Pepsi - it’s Coke.” I’m not sure she was really in the spirit of sacrifice. That would be like me giving up hominy or grits. I really don’t like either of them.

Here’s another addition to “something you probably knew but I didn’t.” Black History Month is recognized in both the U.S. and Canada in February and in the United Kingdom in October.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. as well as Canada and the U.K. One version of the origins of the day is that a priest named Valentine was martyred on Feb. 14, 269 AD in Rome for secretly marrying couples against the orders of the Roman Emperor, Claudius II. This was the night before a festival called Lupercalia which was associated with fertility. Perhaps the customs merged.

In the U.S., Valentine’s Day has evolved into “backing the guy into the corner,” day. Great pressure is put on our men to produce something romantic - flowers, candy, dinner. Women buy gifts for their guys but the pressure isn’t the same if they forget or give a gift that is less than expected.

Television and radio commercials are directed toward the men with the unspoken message, “buy this gift, she’ll be happy, you won’t screw up and make her mad.”

I’d feel sorry for the menfolk, but what the heck, it’s just one day.

And her birthday. And Mother’s Day. And Christmas. And your anniversary.

Next week is Random Acts of Kindness week. Established in 1995, this movement inspires people to, well, perform random, unexpected acts of kindness with friends and strangers. I’ve heard stories of people who, in line at the drive-up coffee shack, pay for the coffee of the customer in the car behind them; people who drop off fruit baskets to a Senior Center, etc.

Too bad it only lasts a week.

 Sr. Myra is moved into the Diversity Regional Outreach Center - even though the carpenting isn’t installed. She’ll be holding her first English class there this afternoon and her Spanish classes are Monday nights at 7 p.m. Signage is ready and we’ll have it in place soon.

 When I was there yesterday, she was helping a young Mexican mother get the proper papers so she can find work. Then the young woman helped Sr. Myra build a bookcase. Because the instructions were written in both English and Spanish, it worked out well. Plus it gave the woman a feeling of ‘ownership’ in the D-ROC.

 Of course, my camera was at home being charged up, but it would have made a great photo of the two of them working together while the little boy, who appeared to be about two or three, watched.

 I played toy cars with him for awhile and wished I knew some Spanish words so we could communicate. We got the job done with gestures.

Found out last week that Brule’ and Airo will be at the Civic Theater on March 21. I don’t have the time or ticket prices yet and the details aren’t listed on their web site, but I’ll add all that when I get it. Brule’ was formed by Paul LaRoche, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe. This new-age musical extravaganza will be well-worth the ticket price, so pencil it in.

You have two chances to check out the Full Palette film series which started last week. If you can’t make the 7 p.m. showing at the Red Rooster on Wednesday, then you can see the 5:30 p.m. showing on thursdays at Presentation College in the Nursing Building. The films are free and open to the public and will be shown every Wednesday and Thursday through March 5.
 Full Palette is presented by the Presentation College Social Work Program in collaboration with POV, the award-winning non-fiction film series from PBS. For more information, contact the Social Work office at 229-8335. Movie trailers can be found at: www.pbs.org/pov.