This year is not a leap year. Leap years have an extra day after the 28th of February. A February 29 every four years keeps the calendar year in sync with the actual year, rotations of the earth, seasons, and other more traditional indicators of time. Easter is supposed to be celebrated on the Sunday after the fourteenth day of the moon that falls on or after March 21. The Gregorian calendar sees to it that Easter continues to fall on the vernal equinox. The equinox is when the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. In Japan, the vernal equinox is a national holiday for honoring one’s ancestors and visiting their (hopefully still interred) relatives’ graves.
Those who are born on a leap day usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 during non-leap years. In the musical The Pirates of Penzance, the star Frederic was born on a leap day and apprenticed to pirates until he was twenty-one. Unfortunately for Fred, the pirates did not follow the leap day custom of celebrating leap day birthdays on the twenty-eighth. So he was set to be apprenticed to pirates until he was about eighty-four years old.
I know some deviants who got married on a leap day. I’d advise them to celebrate on Feb 28, so I’m going to sent happy anniversary wishes their way digitally now. I think if they don’t do that wacky sub-28-for-29 thing, then they have been married for a bit over three years. Congrats guys.
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