Happy Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day!  Leap days occur in a leap year, and a leap year is any year whose date is exactly divisible by four, except those years which are divisible by 100 but not by 400.  Are you with me so far?  Since our yearly revolution of the earth around the sun is technically longer than 365 days, every four years we have accumulated an extra day.

Scene from the movie "Leap Year"

The movie "Leap Year"  starring Amy Adams is a fun romantic comedy based on the premise that on Leap Day, a woman may propose marriage to a man.  When the movie was released, I read a review that found the whole Leap Day proposal premise of the movie preposterous, but in doing a little research, I found the tradition has existed for quite some time.  The origin is either St. Bridget negotiating with St. Patrick to set aside a day for women to propose to men once every four years, or, a law passed in Scotland in 1288 that seems to give women the same permission.  The latter version was popular in the 19th century.

Amy Adams as Anna in "Leap Year"

In the movie, Anna is surprised with a gift of earrings from her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy.  Jeremy leaves for a medical conference in Ireland, and Anna, frustrated by the lack of a marriage proposal, decides to travel to Ireland to propose marriage on Leap Day.  The movie becomes a sort of chaotic road trip movie at that point as Anna struggles to make it to Dublin in the company of Declan, played by Matthew Goode.  It is a bit of predictable, romantic-comedy fluff, but is still fun.  I also like the movie for its stunning views of Ireland, although the castle ruins were doctored with CGI for the movie.

Rock of Dunamase, Ireland

The idea of doing something bold and different on Leap Day, as Anna does in the movie, is a good idea for the rest of us.  We actually have an extra day this year.  What will you do with it?  Most of us will be functioning in our normal daily routines, but isn't the idea of an extra day tantalizing?  It would be great if Leap Day were a holiday, and we could really take advantage of the whole day to do something different, but perhaps you can sneak in something you have really wanted to do today, or at least find some small way to mark the occasion, even if it is just dessert!  And if you haven't planned anything wonderful for today, relax.  You have four years to come up with something good for the next Leap Day.  Enjoy your extra day!