Another Leap Year

February 29, 2024--it's Leap Day again! At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, I’ll just mention  that a leap year is a year containing one additional day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the seasons. But you knew that, of course.

This leap year, since there isn’t much new information to share about it, I’m going to revise and recycle a couple of blogs I’ve written four, and even twelve, years ago. 

You probably know that the astronomical events that cause our seasons don't happen in a precise whole number of days, so a calendar that had the same number of days every year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. Early astronomers wanted the spring equinox to stay as close as possible to March 21st each year, so the concept of a leap day (or month, in some calendars) was proposed and instituted.  

It's amazing to think that functional calendars, including leap days, or even leap months, have been used for more than 2000 years. Modern calendars have evolved over time. At first, every country instituted its own form of calendar, but over the centuries, most countries have gradually come to a consensus, so that now, in the twenty-first century, the Gregorian calendar is used throughout most of the world. In the Gregorian calendar, the month of February has 29 days in a leap year, instead of the usual 28, so this year lasts 366 days instead of the usual 365.

The astronomers who first came up with the concept of the calendar did so without computers or any other electronic devices. Take a moment to consider the thought processes and heated discussions that must have occurred! Think of the math involved! And, how in the world did a few learned astronomers convince even one world leader to go along with such an innovative idea? How did they ever manage to agree on the concept of using a leap year to synchronize the calendar with the actual length of earth's orbit around the sun? For that matter, how did they ever figure out how to determine the length of a year, when many people considered the earth to be the flat center of the universe, with all heavenly bodies, including the sun, rotating around it?

Ancient astronomers were considered to be the wisest men of their time--and rightly so. (Think of the Wise Men who followed a star to find the baby Jesus.) We tend to under-estimate the abilities of people who lived so long  ago. We forget that someone had to plan and implement basic, revolutionary ideas that led to calendars, bridges and pyramids, monetary systems, written alphabets, the printing press...the list could go on and on. I'm thankful for those people who saw the need for a functional calendar, who were able to come up with such a complicated, yet simple, means of measuring the passing seasons. 

It will be 1,460 days until the next February 29th rolls around. I hope you enjoy this day!

Ode to Leap Day

It's Leap Day, that extra day, every four years,

When February 29th arrives, to great cheers,
Especially from those poor, sad souls 
Who haven't celebrated an actual birthday in one thousand, four hundred sixty days. WHEW!
That overdue Birthday song must be music to their ears.

How did Caesar figure it out, more than 2,000 years ago?
No calculators, no adding machines, 
No computers to help them make sense of their schemes. 
But those Romans were smart, when they added a day
To the month of February, in just this way, to make the calendar right.
So if you're grateful for Leap Day, you know who to thank--
Some intelligent Romans from Caesar's think tank.

It’s Leap Day at Last.

Don't be a creep day,
Earn your own keep day...
As you sow, you also shall reap.

A supernumerary day, extra special in every way,
But it is what you make it, nothing more.
Think of the treasures that might be in store...

Run a Leap Day 5K--you can do it today.
You can walk in the wind, run in the rain, slide in the snow, if you must,
Jump for joy, thank the Lord above, you'll find plenty to do, I trust.
See some extra sights, eat some extra food, spend some extra time in the sun,
Share these extra hours with the ones you love.
What will you do to have fun?

Go to the game, root for your team,
Go someplace exciting to burn off some steam, 
Let out a scream, but not too loud,
You don't really need to upset the whole crowd.

Get some extra sleep, if that's how you want to celebrate this day.
Hear the robins cheep, announcing Spring will soon be on the way. HURRAY!

Twenty-four hours, that's all we will get,
Then this day will be gone, but we will be set
For the first day of March--let's shout up to heaven
For Nebraska's birthday, number 157. 

This is the day which the LORD has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Psalm 118:24