The world’s largest annual human migration is now winding down. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have been on the move to celebrate Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. This year’s domestic journeys will total a record-breaking 474 million.

Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar and begins with the new moon (when no moon is visible) between January 21 and February 20 on Western calendars. It lasts fifteen days until the following full moon when the Lantern Festival is celebrated.

These hyper-travel days are joyful ones. Many years ago, the essence of the holiday was explained to me by a Chinese American gentleman who was attending one of my art programs. He said, “Tell children Chinese New Year’s is like your Thanksgiving. It is all about coming together with your family, those you love. And it is about sitting around a table and sharing special, traditional food, lots and lots of food.” The Spring Festival is a giant homecoming all wrapped up in countless traditions to ensure good fortune in the new year ahead.

This year’s celebrations have special significance. It is the Year of the Dragon, the most auspicious creature on the Chinese zodiac calendar of animals. Symbolizing power, good luck and strength, the dragon is the only mythological creature of the zodiac. They are depicted in Chinese art as “four-legged, horned, snake-like beings who breathe clouds (not fire).” Chinese dragons are creatures of the sky and are said to control the rain and wind.

Chinese emperors believed themselves to be descendants of dragons. They wore silk robes with images of dragons woven into the fabric. These elegant dragon robes were a symbol of imperial power.

People born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be “charismatic, intelligent, confident, powerful, and they are naturally lucky and gifted. In everything they do, they tend to do it to the best of their ability with high standards.”

Happy Year of the Dragon to everybody, especially the Dragon people who have so much to live up to.

Here are some of the dragons who live at our house. It’s always good to have a few dragons around.

And here is a dragon we found hanging out in Chicago’s Chinatown.

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According to Hallmark, Americans send 145 million Valentine’s cards each year. And this colossal number does not include the cards kids exchange and the hand-crafted ones.

Women purchase about 85 percent of all these hearty greetings. So it is fitting that this blog is about a remarkable woman who is known as ” the Mother of the American Valentine”.

Born in 1828, Esther Howland grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduating from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847. The headmistress of that institution had warned her young ladies against “those foolish notes called valentines”, but Esther had different thoughts.

Esther’s father owned a large book and stationery store, and one of his colleagues sent Esther an elaborate, lacy valentine from England. At that time England was the epicenter of ornate Valentine cards.

Esther was not smitten by her suitor, but she did love the card. Suitably inspired, she designed and assembled twelve cards of her own. When her brother made sales calls for their father’s business, he took Esther’s cards with him. She was hoping for around $200 worth of orders and was stunned when her brother came back with orders over $5,000.

Although Esther had originally planned on making all the cards herself, she realized a new strategy was needed. She immediately cleared a room in the family home, ordered supplies from England and invited over a group of friends. The young women were each assigned only one task. Some cut out pictures, others put on lace, while others added feathers, ribbons and embellishments. Esther Howland had invented an assembly line to mass manufacture the cards which she designed. Her idea predated Henry Ford’s “invention” of the assembly line by decades.

Orders poured in, and soon the operation filled the entire third floor of the family home. In 1870, she incorporated her business as the New England Valentine Company. Her sales were over $150,000 annually which would be several million dollars in today’s money.

Esther eventually had to move the booming operation to a building in downtown Worcester. This savvy entrepreneur had popularized commercial Valentine’s cards in America. Her tasteful creations sold for as little as 5¢ and as much as $50 for elaborate cards with ribbons, gilded lace and hidden doors for hiding treasures such as a lock of hair or an engagement ring.

Esther Howland sold her thriving business to a competitor in 1980, and this, too, is a story about love. She sold out to spend all her time at home caring for her dying father.

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Waiting for a bus in America is not an ambient experience. If a bus shelter is present, it’s typically a scratched plexiglass box plastered with ads, graffiti or both…not the highlight of anyone’s day.

Japan, on the other hand, takes another approach. Imagine sheltering from the elements in a giant watermelon. This is possible in the Konagai area in Nagasaki prefecture. Sixteen bus stops along the Ariake Sea on Highway 207 feature gigantic fruity shelters. In addition to watermelons, supersize strawberries, cantaloupes, oranges and tomatoes (technically a fruit) welcome waiting bus riders. The road has been nicknamed, “Tokemeki Fruit-shaped Bus Stop Avenue.”

The bus shelters were originally part of a hugely successful expo in Osaka and were inspired by Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage. That exposition spawned a smaller fair in Konagai which included the fruit bus stops. When the fair ended, the shelters remained. For a quarter century, they have been carefully maintained, welcoming both bus riders and tourists. They are also a reminder that the area is a top producer of strawberries, oranges and other fruits.

After learning about these unique bus stops, I was curious about what others in Japan might look like. A search revealed many delightful ones. My favorite is the giant Totoro. It was hand built by two loving grandparents for their grandchildren. What a wonderful way to wait for the bus!

A becoming cat greets bus riders.

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A whimsical roadside attraction has appeared down the freeway from us in Cedar Grove…and it all began with a blizzard.

I should note that Cedar Grove originally was settled by Dutch immigrants in the late 1840s and still retains its Dutchness. Until now, the town’s main tourist attractions have been a small replica of a windmill and their annual summer Holland Fest featuring street scrubbing, Klompen Dansing and wooden shoe races.

The new star in town is Mr. Frosty, a colossal snowman towering over 18 feet tall. After this winter’s first major snowstorm, a local resident was helping his kids build a snowman in their front yard. A neighbor chided him to build a bigger one, the dad took up the challenge and enlisted two friends to help him.

The team began by making a gigantic base for their creation. Rebar was used for stability. A second ball was added and the team sprayed the snow so “it’s solid as a rock.”

Fortuitously, one of the guys owns a building company so he was able to bring in a lift to raise Mr. Frosty’s massive head.

The Village of Cedar Grove got into the act by donating the perfect snowman nose, a giant orange traffic cone. A large garbage can serves as the snowman’s hat and branches are his arms.

Mr. Frosty’s builders have enlisted their super-sized snowman to raise funds for Children’s Wisconsin hospital. For a ten dollar donation, donors can guess when the last of Mr. Frosty melts into oblivion. The entry states, “The snowman will be checked every day at 6:00 p.m. When the snowman is completely melted at that 6:00 p.m. time, that date will be the winning day.” Sponsors have donated generous cash prizes for the winning entries.

I’m betting that Mr. Frosty will be around until the crocuses poke their heads up in spring.

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This week’s blog is a riddle. Here are twelve clues. The beautiful answer is revealed in the short video that follows.

• They can be eaten.
• They can be worn.
• They can be collected at the beach.
• They grow in gardens and forests
• Some animals sport them.
• Some animals turn themselves into them.
• Artists love to draw and paint them.
• Mathematicians are fond of them as well.
• They can be walked up and down on.
• They are popular toys.
• They are the physical structure of DNA.
• We all live in a gigantic one.

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