Happy Leap Day! It’s February 29. The odd day that crops up every four years to make sure we plant our crops in the right season.
There have been around 65 leap years since we adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. That means if there were no leap years, we would be 65 days behind. So it would be December 20th. Maybe I should be saying Merry Christmas.
There have long been certain traditions associated with leap day–women are allowed to propose marriage (and there were penalties if the man said, “no,” like giving the lady a dozen pairs of gloves. Yeah, I’d feel SO much better.). And some cultures consider the day bad luck–kind of a less frequent Friday the 13th.
I think it should be a national holiday. A sort of free day to do with as you please. Which made me think, what would please me? A whole day for FREE . . . Here’s what I would do.
Get up and have breakfast. Pile the dishes in the sink. Read for a while. Have a snack. Write if I felt like it. If not, goof around on social networks. Have lunch. Take a walk–not too strenuous–and then read some more. Have a snack while watching HGTV and thinking about how I could do that to my bathroom if I really wanted to. Read in a pool of sunshine until suppertime. Eat supper. Watch the newest episode of Downton Abbey, which would miraculously be on. Read some more while taking a bubble bath. Go to bed.
It’s not noble. It’s not edifying. It’s not beneficial to anyone else. But doesn’t it sound lovely?
What would you do with a completely FREE day?
At my age, EVERY DAY is a free day when I wake up in the morning an am still able to fog a mirror!
Sometimes it’s good to take a break from noble and edifying endeavors, eh? I think I’d laze around with a book in hand for half the day and then spend the remainder just snuggling up with my son, preferably near the ocean. Mmm, what a thought!
Your sidenote on gloves made me laugh. Indeed!
Exactly! And the gloves was just too funny. Apparently it was so the lady in question could hide the absence of an engagement ring. Practical!