Something Different . . .

 

Happy Leap Year Day!  This year we get an extra day, and today is it!  Yay!  We all have an extra day of time added to our lives.  All those wishes for extra minutes, or hours to get the things we need to get done or want to get done, have come true!  All day today we have extra time on our hands!  The gift of time it never gets old!

A Few Fun Facts About Leap Years

• A leap year happens every four years (Or does it? Stay tuned.)
• Leap Day is an extra day added to the shortest month.
• A normal year has 365 days, a leap year has 366.
• It takes the earth 365.25 days to travel around the sun.
• People born on Leap Day are called Leaplings.
• "Even" decades have three leap years. "Odd" decades have two leap years.
• In Ireland, every February 29th, women were allowed to ask a man for his hand in marriage. Men who refused were issued a fine.

Today is leap day 2024, which means we can all enjoy an extra 24 hours this year. Feb. 29 is a date that happens only once every four years, but what are leap years? Why do we need them? And how did they come about? 

 Leap years are years with 366 calendar days instead of the normal 365. They happen every fourth year in the Gregorian calendar which is the calendar used by the majority of the world. The extra day, known as a leap day, is Feb. 29, which does not exist in non-leap years. 

Every year that is divisible by four, such as 2020 and 2024, is a leap year except for some centenary years, or years that end in 00, such as 1900. 

The name "leap" comes from the fact that from March onward, each date of a leap year moves forward by an extra day from the previous year. For example, March 1, 2023 was a Wednesday but in 2024, it will fall on a Friday. (Normally, the same date only moves forward by a single day between consecutive years.)

 

Why We Need Leap Years

On the face of it, all of this "leaping" may seem like a silly idea. But leap years are very important, and without them our years would eventually look very different. 

Leap years exist because a single year in the Gregorian calendar is slightly shorter than a solar, or tropical, year,  that is, the amount of time it takes for Earth to completely orbit the sun once. A calendar year is exactly 365 days long, but a solar year is roughly 365.24 days long, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds. 

If we did not account for this difference, then for each year that passes the gap between the start of a calendar year and a solar year would widen by 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds. Over time, this would shift the timing of the seasons. For example, if we stopped using leap years, then in around 700 years the Northern Hemisphere's summer would begin in December instead of June, according to the National Air and Space Museum.

Adding leap days every fourth year largely removes this problem because an extra day is around the same length as the difference that accumulates during this time. 

 However, the system is not perfect: We gain around 44 extra minutes every four years, or a day every 129 years. To solve this problem, we skip the leap years every centenary year except for those that are divisible by 400, such as 1600 and 2000. But even then, there is still a tiny difference between calendar years and solar years, which is why the IBWM have experimented with leap seconds. But overall, leap years mean that the Gregorian calendar stays in sync with our journey around the sun.

Why is leap day on Feb. 29? 

In the eighth century B.C., the Roman calendar had just 10 months, beginning in March and ending in December. The cold winter season was ignored, with no months to signify it. But this calendar had only 304 days, so January and February were eventually added to the end of the religious year. 

As the last month, February had the fewest days. But Romans soon began associating these months with the start of the civil year, and by around 450 B.C., January was viewed as the first month of the new year. 

 When Pope Gregory XIII added the leap day to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, he chose February because it was the shortest month, making it one day longer on leap years.

And how you know more than you ever wanted to or needed to about Leap Year/Day! How will you be spending this gift of a whole day?  I am sure in a good way!

Today I will be taking Eileen to work and then while she is there I will try to get some work done of my own.  I'll pick her up after and then we have plans to go to my sister's to do some art together, which is always fun and I am sure Eileen will enjoy.  

Eileen wants to take me out for supper today, so that will also be fun. I am not sure where we will go.  We will have to play it by ear. At the moment is is raining/snowing out. This is expected to continue for most of the day. I think March is going to come in like a Lion, which is good news really as we can expect better weather as the month goes on. In like a Lion, out like a Lamb.  

Eileen and I have been really enjoying our time together. Tim also seems to be enjoying his time in Alberta. He has messaged her regularly, which is good.  I know she misses him.  I'll be taking her back home on Sunday and he returns home on Monday. 

I got my will signed yesterday.  So now I can die with ease, knowing that things have been sorted. All I have to do now is buy my headstone and arrange for my burial, etc. None of those things are cheap. Sigh . . .  but they are a must do so that I don't leave chaos for my family when I am gone. Mom had everything in place. It is hard enough to deal with the loss of a loved one without having chaos added to the mix!  

I have never had a will before. I never saw the need for one I guess.  But they are quite necessary things. Without one, everything I have, money and belongings would go to my husband, but with a will I am able to make sure that doesn't happen, which is as it should be.

 

Someone left an unkind comment yesterday. I never publish the nasty ones.  Usually I try to brush those things off.  I will never ever understand the need of others to be unkind and cruel. It is such a foreign concept to me.  I am not sure why, but I ended my day in bed in tears. Not because of what they said, but . . .  I suppose . . . because every once in a while I let the things which have happened over the last few years catch up with me and I need a good boo hoo. Thankfully those moments pass, and come fewer and further between. For the most part I end my days feeling grateful and blessed.  I have so much to be thankful for.

Well, I know this isn't my traditional favorite things post today, but  I could not resist sharing things about Leap Year/Day.  I hope you weren't too bored!

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛.Everyone needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

where nature may heal and give° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

strength to body and soul.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

~John Muir° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today . . .  Fried Cornbread. These are like a sturdy pancake.  Delicious served hot with butter and honey. Eileen really enjoyed them and so did I!

I hope you have a wonderful Leap Day!  Do something special!  Be happy and be blessed. Don't forget!

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And I do too!