What Does Leap Day Mean To You?

Do you have plans for the day that only comes once every four years?

Photo by Matt Heaton on Unsplash

I was looking at my calendar earlier this week when I realized that February, this year, has 29 days instead of 28. I guess I should have realized sooner, I just wasn’t thinking about it.

I don’t have that many associations with leap day; it’s not really a holiday that people celebrate, that I know of. The only things that come to mind are from film and TV shows. There’s the movie Leap Year — maybe I’ll re-watch that. I always enjoy seeing Matthew Goode and Amy Adams in the Irish countryside. Part of the storyline involves the Irish tradition of Ladies’ Privilege, which, according to this article from Salon, dates all the way back to the 5th century:

Legend has it that Saint Bridget once asked Saint Patrick that women be given the opportunity to propose, since men were too slow to do so. Saint Patrick first suggested that women be allowed to propose on one day every seven years. He later settled on every four years thanks to Bridget’s convincing.

I have a small amount of Irish ancestry, and I’ve absolutely loved my visits to Ireland, but nonetheless, I won’t be participating in this particular tradition this leap year (I will, however, use it as a shameless excuse to share more photos from my…