2.29 LEAP

I have a grand-nephew who is 24, a leap year baby celebrating his 6th birthday today. I don’t think that keeps him from celebrating when the calendar leaves him out but I’ve got to believe the real deal is cause for a little more enthusiasm. I’m still celebrting Mardi Gras; I got a late start. My BD is still months away so I work every angle trying to squeeze some authorized joy out of every otherwise obscure day. It might only be a nap in the afternoon and maybe for the sake of a Nuthatch at my bird feeder but I’ll take it. In September I celebrated nonstop for eight days and nights, the Grand Canyon. They all even out and you hope by your BD the joy factor is at least up to the speed limit.  

You know, one revolution around the sun takes ever so slightly longer than the 365 days we take for granted. The Romans figured out the 365.25 days-per-year calendar, adding a day every four years to keep the seasons in sync with the weather, thus leap year but it wasn’t perfect. Then, along come the Christians. It was screwing up Easter, which is calibrated on the lunar cycle as well as the calendar and we can’t change the lunar cycle. So what do you do? In the late 1580’s they figured out the current leap year correction and they did it all without computers or calculators. They juggled the days per month and dropped the leap year in century years that cannot be divided equally by the number 400. In the year 2100, which should by all rights be a leap year, it will not. February of 2100 will just be 28 days, like normal years and my grand-nephew will have to celebrate his 108th birthday on the 28th or the 1st.

If you’re following the Chinese calendar it’s either 4653 or 4713 and it’s the year of the Monkey. The Buddhist calendar puts us in 2560. The Hebrews have us in 5776 and if you are scheduling by the British Royal Calendar it is 64 Eliz. 2. It’s the year of the Royals and the Broncos. It’s an election year and I hate it when they do that. The American calendar is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness but we can't agree on what that means. In Canada, a nation with great curb appeal, they make less noise and track the calendar of peace, order and good government; I love it when they do that. Calendars, I like the photographs better than the numbers anyway. Today is leap day in the leap year. My leaping now takes a short, flat trajectory but when you give up, you’re done.