A Day For Leaping
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 11:25 PM
I feel strangely excited by February 29th this year….in a way I don’t ever remember being excited by previous leap years. It feels like we’ve all been given an extra day to live – sort of the opposite of the way people felt when Great Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752….and people rioted in the streets, believing they’d had eleven days of their lives snatched from them.
BBC Radio 4 has been encouraging everyone to make a leap of some kind tomorrow – to do something unusual, something life-changing or something you’ve been putting off for ages.
I haven’t yet decided what my own particular leap will be, though I have a couple of possible ideas in mind. I shall see how tomorrow takes me.
But one way or another, I’m determined to make the day pretty darn special. It feels like a year for leaping.
The random number generator threw up number 3 this morning….so the tiny Moroccan spoons go to Michelle. Congratulations to her! (Oh, and if you’re wondering about the goats above, we found them in a tree in Morocco!)
Reader Comments (3)
You got me curious over here - the leap? If it is anything near the mystery of the tree-climbing goats, it´s gotta be good. So, the leap? Oh, but I can patiently wait. What leap????
Hi Lise!
In Britain (and, as far as I know, in other English-speaking countries), the years in which February has an extra day are known as Leap Years. I've seen various explanations for the name - I think the most probable is that at one time, February 29th had no recognition in English law...so the day was 'leapt over' and ignored.
There are no traditions associated with the day that I know of (apart from it being the day when women can propose marriage to men - a custom I think you have in Denmark, too). BBC Radio 4's decision to invite people to take a leap of their own is something wholly new - but I have to say I think it's a brilliant idea and I hope it catches on!
...so excited for my spoons! thank you...