Valentine's Day Traditions

En and I have a tradition that's been going for longer than we've been married -- we don't do the traditional Valentine's Day dinner thing. We do the day before or the day after.In many ways this really started from being, I suppose, a bit lazy or crowd-phobic, but it has transitioned from such low beginnings to something that's taken on a life of its own. It's really our thing in many ways.This year it was the day before. Again, in a lot of ways this is toeing the spirit of the tradition. In this case we wanted to avoid the Saturday-night crowds. It worked great -- like every time.The Stumbling Goat (great place on Greenwood Avenue in case you're looking for a nice date spot) was almost full when we arrived at eight, but it wasn't crowded. As the night wore on it grew sparser and we had the room almost to ourselves as we got ready to leave.Why eight o'clock?See also: Dan Savage.