Julius: I just think it's fun that this day only happens once every four years.
Yulysta: There is an actual reason why this day happens, for those of you who don't know. The Earth circles the sun every 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds, to be exact. To make up for that difference in time, every four years roughly 24 hours is accumulated, thus giving us an extra day in February!
PB: Leap days were part of the Julian reform, which was used to realign the Julian calender before the Gregorian calendar was considered more accurate, and leap years were also used in transition from the Roman calendar. This all took place over 2000 years ago.
Y: Today is also a historical day where women traditionally propose to men. This happened according to an old Irish or other legend stating that St. Bridget talked St. Patrick into letting women propose to men once every four years. Timeanddate.com says:
In some places, Leap Day has been known as “Bachelors’ Day” for the same reason. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage proposal from a woman on Leap Day. In many European countries, especially in the upper classes of society, tradition dictates that any man who refuses a woman's proposal on February 29 has to buy her 12 pairs of gloves. The intention is that the woman can wear the gloves to hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. During the middle ages there were laws governing this tradition.PB: For people who are born on February 29th, they are all invited to join "The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies." These people have the option of celebrating their birthday on non-leap years either on February 28th or March 1st.
J: I think March 1st makes more sense.
PB: However, in Scotland being born on the 29th of February is considered bad luck, and in Greece it's considered bad luck to marry on the day. In France, a humorous article titled: La Bougie du Sapeur (The Sapper's Candle) published every leap day since 1980.
J: This is all incredibly boring. I mean, who really cares about all of this? It happens once every four years, and only to keep the Earth in time with it's rotation. And it's another day that we sit on this shelf getting dusty.
Y: It's an historical event with a lot of significance. People take for granted the days we're given. We have an extra day this year to appreciate. And it's only just now starting to get a little warmer. We couldn't really go anywhere before because if we fell and got dirty from the snow we couldn't be washed in the washing machine. Fur washable only.
PB: I think Julius is a little ungrateful for what he has.
J: Am not.
PB: Anyway, Holly learned today that the children had never played Battleship before! She pulled up the game on the computer and the children loved it!
Y: Another game Holly loves that the oldest child seemed to enjoy is Rummikub. She bought the travel version of the game and she enjoys playing a generic version of the game on the computer too.
J: There has been some craft things going on lately too. She made recycled yogurt cup shooters and gave them to the kids to play with. (Site that held the inspiration.)
Y: And she made clothes pin dolls with embroidery floss, and what else, clothes pins!
PB: Holly's plants have really grown too. She has thinned and re-potted most of them and they're looking great.
J: I hope everyone enjoys the pictures she's put below.
Y: The next post she'll write won't be until March! Warmer weather and more sightseeing should be on the way so stay tuned for more exciting news!
PB, J, & Y: Happy Leap Day everyone!
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| Bean seed at it's very beginning. |
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| Root sprouting... |
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| Little more root... |
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| Solid root growth. |
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| Pumpkin seed sprouts... |
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| Little taller now... |
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| Leaves opening up now... |
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| Now some solid growth! |
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| Avocado pit splitting. |
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| Now I have an actual garden! I'm not expecting the pear or clementine to sprout but we'll see what happens! |
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| I just thought it would be kind of neat to post a picture of a German keyboard for everyone to see. See the differences between American and German keyboards? |
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| Recycled yogurt cup shooter. |
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| The inside. We'd put little lightweight kids clay balls in the inside, pull the balloon tail, and they'd go flying! Try it! |
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| My embroidery dolls. Aren't they cute? The oldest one made a nice one too. |
Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
www.timeanddate.com
First of all, you usually txt me when you put up a new blog post!!!!
ReplyDeleteSecond, yes i see the difference between the German and American keyboards.
Third, i do appreciate the history lol.
Fourth, check your email lol.