Happy Leap Year!

Did you wake up feeling like leaping? I sure hope so because today sure is the day for it!

Why? Well today, February 29th, is “Leap Day,” an extra (intercalary) day added during a Leap Year, making the year 366 days long – and not 365 days.

Did you know that:

• It was the ancient Egyptians who first figured out that the solar year and the man-made calendar year didn’t always match. That’s because it actually takes the Earth a little longer than a year to travel around the Sun – 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be exact. Therefore as the hours accumulated over the centuries, an extra day was occasionally added to the calendar, and over time the practice because more or less official.
• The Romans first designated February 29th as leap day, but a more precise formula (still in use today) was adopted in the 16th century when the Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the calculations to include a leap day in years only divisible by four – 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, etc.
• According to an old Irish legend, or possibly history, St Bridget struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men – and not just the other way around – every 4 years. This is believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balances the calendar. I wonder what St. Patrick would say today what with women proposing to men with great frequency…well, maybe not great, but certainly more often than once every four years!

The Silver Lining is that today is an extra day. A bonus day. A day with which I hope you get to do whatever it is that your heart desires!  Enjoy Every Minute!

And just to help you remember how many days each month has….because this certainly the only way that I remember!