Leaping into the 1st of February

Let’s not forget that 2012 is a Leap Year.  Jumping into this month I ponder the old rhyme which went something like this:

 “30 days hath September, April, June, and November.  February has 28 alone.  All the rest have 31.  Except in Leap Year.  That’s the time when February’s days are 29”.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes quickly recite in my head that first part about September, April, June, and November to quickly remember how many days there are in whatever month we’re in.  We need Leap Years to keep seasons, astronomical events, and time differences in sync. 

One theory about why the term “Leap Year” is used comes from an explanation that February 29th did not have any legal status in old English courts, so the 29^th was “leaped over” and whatever happened on that day was recorded as February 28^th.  There is an old Irish legend that says women can propose marriage to men during a Leap Year.  And there is another old tradition that says February 29^th is Bachelor’s Day, meaning it is the one day out of the entire Leap Year that a woman can NOT propose to a man.  Ahh, no big deal, I guess, because she can just wait until March 1^st. 

Of course, we don’t observe these old traditions in our modern society.  Many couples don’t even bother to get married but just live together and the old scene where the guy gets down on one knee and proposes is mainly seen in old movies perhaps yes and perhaps no yet so much for love and the traditions of romance.  Some leap and some Jump yet and within the old days there is something to be said with regards to leaping and jumping from a calendar and heart full time of the year.