It’s hard not to call February 29 a free day. I mean, after all, we only see one of these every four years! It’s like found money, only it’s time. Wow! Time. And, we never really realize we are saving up that quarter of a day each year for four years. So it’s like putting on a jacket and finding a five dollar bill in the pocket. It’s a lovely surprise.
Yesterday I read a bit in the paper that when a baby is born on February 29, doctors urge parents to pick either February 28 or March 1. I should think I would be forever disappointed in my parents if I was born on February 29 and my parents didn’t claim the day as my own. Any other day wouldn’t be my birthday, now would it? I mean really. Who believes that if you don’t have a birth day every year, you really don’t age? That, by the time the fourth February 29 comes around, you are not sixteen but four. Truly?
In my family we’ve been celebrating half birthday, well, just about forever. So why not celebrate your birthday whenever? Things like birthdays are not always convenient. Nor do they always work just the way you want them to. This year I had a terribly under-performing lackluster birthday. Seriously. And so, because of a free day this year, I’ve decided to celebrate my birthday today. The leap year day. God bless you, Pope Gregory XIII. Even though you signed the decree for a Gregorian Calendar in February 1582, you had to wait until 1584 for a real leap year. I do believe that took some courage.
But just for you buffs, who think four (4) is the most important number. Think about this:
Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100; the centurial years that are exactly divisible by 400 are still leap years. For example, the year 1900 is not a leap year; the year 2000 is a leap year.
A lot to think about on a free day.