And....2008 Is A Leap Year

So this is one of those years that have an extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. This sounds a little too scientific for me but, if they say that's the reason, I'm sure it is. I was thinking today what it would have been like to have been born on February 29th. If you were born in 1960, for instance, you'd be celebrating your 13th birthday today. Well, not really, because those born on this day celebrate their birthday either on February 28th or March 1st.

Yesterday, one of my son's close friends and great poker mind, Chris Lee (aka genius28), celebrated his 21st birthday. He missed leap year by only one year. Now that he's 21, I think he's about to turn the poker world on its ear, an expression meant to change a type of activity in a surprising and exciting way and something I definitely think Chris is going to accomplish. I think we'll be hearing a lot about this boy in the coming years. Happy Birthday "G".

I was also thinking what it would have been like if our daughter had been born on February 29th and didn't have an actual "birthday" every year. Since there is no one in this world who enjoys their birthday more than Liz, this could have been nothing short of a tragedy. Her birthday is on April 2nd and already we're counting down the days.....33 more to go.

In years past, leap year was the one time that women could propose to men. The men got so scared by this that they changed it to only one day during the leap year when they could ask a man to marry them and that day was February 29th. Needless to say, most men hid in their homes and never saw the light of day on February 29th.

While reading up on leap year, I came across a great book by Peter Cameron which I have now ordered from Amazon.com. It's amazing how I end up finding some of the books I read. This book was actually written in weekly installments and published in a magazine. It chronicles a year in the life of New Yorkers lost in the twilight of the 80's.....sounds good to me. You can look forward to a review of this book as soon as I finish it.

As another leap year comes and goes, it will be another four years until we see another one....2012. Wow that looks funny! And it will be another four years before I can, once again, write about February 29th.