Amazing May – I can hear the flowers beginning to sing snappy tunes outside my windows. Well, they are baby tunes, of course, another month before they’re more full-throated. The mess of iceberg roses up top on the piazza, yes, I heard the whisperings, they’re having meetings as to whether or not to put forth their bounty this year. Are we worthy? Will we admire them enough?

Did everyone pay their taxes, as in "render unto Caesar"? Drunk maybe three beers to drown your empty-wallet sorrows?

So upcoming on the 15th is the infamous Ides of March, a day we're supposed to remember because of a really traitorous assassination that happened in ancient Rome. But really, remembering this comes down to the amount of storage space you have left in your brain. And yes, I had to ask Alexa to remind me and she told me far more than I wanted to know.

All right, guys, this is your holiday to really shine, to pull out all the stops and go overboard (actually there isn’t an “over” board with this wonderful romantic day). But what, you ask, oh Brilliant One, can I do to show my beloved the depths of my absolutely unquestionably insanely forever devotion? Brilliant One (not B.O. please) says: Grasshopper, this is perfect for ALL occasions:

Vol. GO No. LIONS

Just home from Florida, belated Christmas visits with precious family who, thankfully, all live in the same area. Lots of camaraderie, healthy (yeah, right) food from Hibachi to Penne a la Vodka (no, can’t get high only more Italian) to Enchiladas and chips (BIG YEA). Weather good, enough sun, and best of all? No Drama.

Amazing news: Both going to Florida and coming home, not a single problem, on-time flights, very pleasant. The trick, of course, is to try to fly non-stop and avoid blizzards.