Valentines - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Health Department and the American Heart Association remind you that February is American Heart month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. Every year, 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease.

The good news is that heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for people to make healthier choices.

The Ridgewood Health Department encourages families to make small changes, like using spices to season their food instead of salt. Teachers and educators need to make physical activity a part of the school day. This can help students start good habits early.

February 13, 20118:36 AM ET
ARNIE SEIPEL

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild And Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

February is American Heart Month

The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day