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For My Giant “Leap” This Year


I got to be honest. I have no idea why we have leap years nor remember the last one in 2012. The only thing I know is that I didn’t write about it. That is how I evaluate my life, if I wrote about it then it crossed my mind more than once. The only exception to that rule is when my chronic migraines are raging especially in prior years that made my holiday blogs post six months to a year later than that they occurred. So what? Who doesn’t like a Christmas blog in the summer? This strategy keeps my readers on their toes. Certainly no other publication is as sporadic as mine. 

I so often wish I had an extra day off each weekend so that I could get ahead on my list of things to do and still have a day to be a couch potato. This year happens to be a Leap Year and it’s on a Monday so that doesn’t really help me any. I think it should be a Federal holiday that way I would have off. I mean it’s only once every four years. I should think employers could swing that.

There aren’t really many worse birthdays than mine. It’s a week before Christmas so nailing down plans with friends who are swamped with holiday plans has always been a project. In college my twenty-first was on a Tuesday and my friends and I went out despite the half of the school that had already gone home. Needless to say I didn’t study for the final I had the following morning.

But a leap year birthday makes me feel grateful that at least I have a birthday every year. I believe the case for having off from work is especially warranted for these folks. I mean they have four years of celebrating to pack into one day.

The only thing I know about leap years is that they occur every four years but no glue as to why. I have since looked it up and am still pretty confused.

Here is what I know for sure.

  • Julius Caesar is the creator of the leap year. Leave it to a Roman; yes I am throwing some Italian shade.
  • Apparently we need this day to maintain our normal calendar as the Earth revolves around the sun.
  • Otherwise we would loose six hours a year.
  • Years that are not leap years are called common years.
  • A person who has this birthday is called a Leapor (too bad that sounds a    lot like Leper).
  • Women can propose to men.
  • Olympics always take place in a leap year.
  • The Chinese calendar only celebrates leap years in the year of the monkey, dragon, and rat. Since this is the year of the monkey it makes perfect sense.

Each country has their own way of dealing with leap year legal issues and how they calculate a person’s age that is born on this day. It is either a day earlier or a day later but are the same age as any one born during the same year they were. As best as I can figure in the USA your legal birthday comes in March. I feel for those anxiously awaiting turning twenty-one.

The Huffington Post has complied a list of the best sales and specials that can be found this Leap Year day. See the first link below for details.

So what are you going to do with your “extra” time this year? You better use it wisely or start planning for what you will do in 2020.

I think I am going to spend it writing and suspect I will still be doing so in 2020, just hopefully on a different topic.


For More Information:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/leap-year-specials_us_56cfd693e4b03260bf765a24

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leap-day-february-29.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/77365096/five-leap-year-traditions-that-you-might-not-know-about












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