The grocery store makes me giggle.
It’s where I go for comic relief.
Yes, you can always count on the kids there to make you smile or laugh. Just yesterday I walked by a kid loudly snoring as he slept in the cart. Another lobbied for lollipops over lettuce. And then there were two little girls, sisters, who probably insisted on dressing themselves that day. While I stood there in sweatpants, they were all decked out. There was no missing their bejeweled, colorful (and adorably mis-matched) outfits standing between the produce and peanuts. Their mother said hello, so I commented on how pretty the little girls looked. Both kids looked at me, smiled and replied with a confident, “I know.” 🙂 Their mother then told me how they loved to dress up for every occasion, everyday…
I think of those little girls as I sit down to write this, because today is what you could consider a “special occasion” day.
Image via Wikipedia
It’s Leap Day, the rarest day of the year, especially when you consider the disappearing day only comes around every four. Yes, it’s sure to be the talk of the town, so take a good look because today, the calendar reads February 29th. (YES! February can have 29 days. Remember the rhyme? “30 days has September, April, June and November,” etc.) Irish tradition says if a woman proposes to a man on this day, he must say yes. In Greece, it is considered unlucky to marry on a Leap Day or even in a Leap Year. Folks with birthdays today are referred to as “leaplings” or “leapers”, and they can claim to be a quarter of their age, and they have a point…
2012 promises 366 days instead of the typical 365. How many times have we said, “If we only had more hours in the day?” While we won’t have more hours in the day today, this year does give us an extra day!
The Leap Year was designed to keep the calendar in tune with the seasons. In short, while we think each year has 365 days, it really has 365.242 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds–that’s how long it really takes the earth to circle the sun each year. To make up for the added hours, we just add a day every four years. (And there is another rule too: a century year is not a leap year unless it is divisible by 400.) If we didn’t make a calendar adjustment then sooner or later our seasons would shift and summer wouldn’t start until July.. or later.
No matter the weather, this year gives us a bonus day, which means extra opportunity and for some, an extra paycheck (depending on which day of the week your payday falls)! We have an added chance to do something special and that could be anything.
While folklore and fascination surround today, what’s more important is how we spend all our days.
What if… like the little girls at the grocery store, we treated each day like a special occasion?
Life is not a dress rehearsal. Celebrate today and everyday. Happy Leap Day!
Shine on!!
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TheSunshineStand 
Fascinating. Good trivia material and interesting info.