Leap Day: The Gift that Keeps on Leaping

I'm not big into astrology and I don't pay much attention to solstices or equinoxes. True, I experimented with Crocs, but I've never owned a pair of Birkenstocks. Nevertheless, I would like to acknowledge the celestial event that passed a few days ago. Falling once every four years, like an election or the olympics but without the bumper stickers or steroids, it came and went with hardly any fanfare yet it could very well be the most rewarding holiday of them all.

Leap Day is like the duct tape of calendar events. Without being pretty, it holds things together so they'll keep working another four years. We need this extra day in February every four years to keep our calendar accurate. Leap Day is like the butter knife wedged under the table leg.

To me, the extra day is a reward for three years of hard work. A bonus at the end of a tough winter month that lets us catch our breath before charging ahead into all that March brings. Rent... Spring... the sudden Irishness of friends you could have sworn were Italian. Deadlines are one day farther away. Bus passes last a bit longer. And our landlords pace the hallways, forced to wait yet another day. Work can get intense here in New York, and when you're under the gun it's nice to remind yourself that "at least it's not tomorrow yet". And this year we can thank Leap Day for the extra breathing room.

So I hope some of you celebrated Leap Day last weekend. It even fell on a Friday, party-day all the world over. I was right out there, celebrating, partying... I think I had risotto. I hope some of you partied it up, too. I hope the monthly transit users sat a little higher in their pleather seats. I'm sure somewhere (probably Seattle) there was a bonfire with Wiccan chanting. And while that's a step farther than my Crocs will take me, I applaud your priorities. This year's Leap Day may have passed, but it's not too late to celebrate. Let's welcome this little red-headed step-holiday back into our calendars.