With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I join many puzzled friends wondering what to get my significant other to truly demonstrate the depth of my relief that he hasn't left me yet. (Just kidding - I trust him. I do want to find something that shows how wonderful I think he is, though!) At the same time, I begin to puzzle over whether or not I will receive something that my s/o has similarly agonized over - and if that something will include flowers.
When he and I first met, a hazy eight years ago, I ranted at length about despising flowers - and then cooed like a little bird over the two long-stemmed roses he handed over the next Feb. 14. I must have appeared to be completely won over by said flowers - I even dried and saved them for many years before the vacuum cleaner ate them.
But fresh-cut flowers are a dilemma, at least in my mind. Are they friendly to the environment? It would seem not. Do they have an enduring value? Nefarious vacuum cleaners aside, they can be dried and saved, but this doesn't retain much of the way they looked when fresh. Do they rot if neglected? Absolutely, and that's not very romantic.
So, to the three people who read this blog: I open it up to you. Do you give/receive flowers? Why? Do you want to receive flowers? Why/why not?
As for me: While writing this post, I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to rain on his parade. Anything - or nothing - is fine. The best Valentine's Day gift will be to just spend time with him.
Maybe we'll go buy some flowers.
I'm similarly torn on this topic. They are definitely a disaster when it comes to sustainability, and really not justifiable in any way.
ReplyDeleteHowever I also really like getting flowers. They're pretty and uplifting, especially in winter.
My current strategy is to just shut up about it either way (meaning I don't preach about the evils of the industry, nor do I hint that I want them as a gift). Then if I get them (not often, either way), I just take it in the spirit it's given, as a gift, and it's nice.
The best is locally-sourced flowers, in the summertime of course. If I were ever to have flowers at a wedding or something, I'd have to go that route.