Valentine's Day

The orgin of Valentine's Day is a little cloudy.  The most historically accurate story is that Valentine was a priest in the 3rd century during the rein of Claudius II.  During that time he married young couples and helped those being persecuted for their faith.  Both crimes under Claudius.  After being arrested he cured the daughter of his jailer of her blindness.  Just before his death he wrote a farewell note to the jailer's daughter signing it, "from your Valentine".  St. Valentine died on this day, February 14, around 270. 

St. Valentine married young couple against the will of the Roman Empire.  From that beginning to today we now celebrate love and romance on his feast day with chocolate and roses.  

Chocolate is an interesting gift.  It tastes wonderful and makes you feel really good.  A wonderful gift.  But it has its dark side.  Chocolate contains theobromine.  Theobromine is a substance that is very similar to caffeine and has some of the same effects.  The concentration of theobromine is highest in dark and baking chocolate.  But you would have to eat extreme amounts of chocolate for the theobromine to make you sick.  The sugar will get you first as witnessed by any parent with a child on Halloween.  The love ones that are really at risk of chocolate poisoning are our dogs.  Theobromine can be very toxic in dogs.  It causes vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, tremor and even seizures.  As with anything else there is a toxic dose.  So when your dog eats your bag of Dove chocolate hearts, call the Poison Center.  

Roses are the other hand smell wonderful, are not harmful when ingested and some species are edible.   Maybe we should stick with flowers.  St. Valentine would be proud