Born on February 29th?  How Will You Be Spending Your Leap Day?

Every four years, the universe throws us a small gift from our ancestors; we get an extra day added at the end of February.  Twenty-four extra hours to spend any way you want.  Of course, considering this gift of time falls on a Thursday this year, it will be an extra workday for most. As we know, if Jim Croce could’ve saved time in a bottle, there are many things he would have done.  And now, you get to bank some time this leap day as well. 

For the rest of the world who get February 29^th as not a birthday but as a bonus day, the abbreviated version of why we get this extra day is quite simple.  Our basic calendar consists of 365 days; however, the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun is a bit longer than that, roughly 365 days and almost six hours.  To account for the differences, and so our seasons don’t start shifting over time, an extra day was added to the calendar every four years.  It gets a little more complex in that all years divisible by four are not actually leap years.  If a year is divisible by 100 but not 400, we skip the leap year.  Although we did not do that in the year 2000, we will skip it in the year 2100.  As with all things ancient and pre-internet, one wonders how Julius Caesar managed to figure out all of the mathematical quirks associated with leap day.

If you have ever echoed the words, “If I only had more time…” then this is your day too!  Take the extra time to pamper yourself or use it as an impetus to do something you wouldn’t normally do the other 365 days of the year.  There are so many songs, analogies, and poems about “time” and what we would do for more of it.  Well, this is your lucky year.  Happy Leap Day to all, especially to the kindred spirits who also call this special day their birthday.