Today is February 29, ‘Leap Day,’ and all across America, young ladies are asking young men to marry them in droves.
Or so the legend reads.
Shoot, I would have been happy, back in the day, if a pretty young lady had asked me out for a date on Feb. 29. I don’t remember that ever happening, though.
The science behind us having a leap day every four years is to somehow calibrate the calendar with our trips around the sun. If we DON’T have a leap day every four years, somehow, things will get out of synch eventually. I’m not really sure how that works, though, because somewhere during the trip around the sun last year or the year before, wouldn’t the hour we’re experiencing right now have fallen in the middle of the night?
One check outside the window as I type this and it still looks like daylight to me. So, I dunno. Maybe we’re really not supposed to think about the details of the physics to such a great extent.
We seem fascinated by the notion of tacking this day on to the bottom of February, I think, because it is a novelty. It’s similar to Friday the 13ths and Groundhog Day and the like, in that way. It’s a day not like all the others. Normally, February is the little month and, by today, we’d already be in March. It’s logical to add the extra day to the shortest month, but then again, I wonder if this day isn’t meant for logic.
We talk about the myths and legends behind the day (such as I mentioned earlier). There was even a popular movie a few years ago based on the day.
Whatever you think about Leap Day, the reality is the calendar says it is 2012 – a year divisible by four – and thus we get this extra day. 
As an aside, I’ve never known anyone born on this date. My mother reminds me that the son of one of her childhood friends is a February 29er. That’s about as close as I can come. I guess that’s “Seven Degrees of February 29.”
Carrying that thought a step further, I’ve often wondered what you do during the other three years. Do you celebrate on the 28th (which would be the last day of February) or do you celebrate on the day after February 28 (which would normally be March 1)? It’s a quandry. I suppose you could make the argument for either solution.
Or could you just celebrate once every four years? That’s a lot of cake, though. On the plus side, you could sample various flavors.
Birthdays aside, the way I look at the world, every day is a gift so why not make this extra day extra special? Do something extraordinary! Get in touch with an old friend that you haven’t talked to recently. Go out of your way to do an extra act of kindness to someone in need. Start a new hobby or a new pursuit. You could even start your own blog!
One thing we DON’T need on this date is severe weather. We’ve had enough of that. Of course, that is out of out control.
Perhaps the best advice of all is expressed through the simple chant we used to say at the start of FHS basketball games when I was in school. As the players would come out for the start of the game, the students would offer encouragement to our player who was participating in the tip off. In unison, we would say:
“Leap, leap, leap! Get up off your feet! Leap, leap, leap! Get up off your feet!”
JG
(Source: timeanddate.com)
Originally posted 2/29/2012
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