Today is Wednesday the 29th of February. A leap year. Did you know that one of the oldest leap year traditions is for a woman to propose to a man on Feb. 29 of a leap year. Today is the day that women are "allowed" to propose to their partners.
Believed to go back to an old Irish legend, it's said that a man who refuses the proposal of a woman on a leap day must buy her a gift as an apology. Some versions of the tradition say the gift should be 12 pairs of gloves, so the woman can hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring, a silken dress or money to the equivalent.
One, I am not fond of the term "allowed" that is being used in the media today and Two, call me a traditionalist but every girl has a dream of her prince charming bending down on one knee. I think I will wait for my fairytale to come true?
So why do we have an extra day to our calendar almost every four years?
The answer, simply put, is that the Earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun. It's actually closer to 365.242 days. While that may not seem like much, it amounts to almost six extra hours a year, which does add up over time.
A leap year helps to prevent the shift that would happen in our calendars because of these extra hours. Without it, our calendar would eventually fall out of sync with the weather. In 100 years, our calendar would be about 24 days off, and before we knew it, we'd be seeing summer-like conditions in July and have wintery Decembers. But then again I must remind myself that I do reside in Melbourne, and these wacky weather conditions are not uncommon.
My leap of faith is starting this blog. I am terrible, really terrible at anything that requires routine, or regularity so I am hoping that I am able to keep this blog. I can't tell you how many diaries I have started... a page or two... and then nothing.
Believed to go back to an old Irish legend, it's said that a man who refuses the proposal of a woman on a leap day must buy her a gift as an apology. Some versions of the tradition say the gift should be 12 pairs of gloves, so the woman can hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring, a silken dress or money to the equivalent.
One, I am not fond of the term "allowed" that is being used in the media today and Two, call me a traditionalist but every girl has a dream of her prince charming bending down on one knee. I think I will wait for my fairytale to come true?
So why do we have an extra day to our calendar almost every four years?
The answer, simply put, is that the Earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun. It's actually closer to 365.242 days. While that may not seem like much, it amounts to almost six extra hours a year, which does add up over time.
A leap year helps to prevent the shift that would happen in our calendars because of these extra hours. Without it, our calendar would eventually fall out of sync with the weather. In 100 years, our calendar would be about 24 days off, and before we knew it, we'd be seeing summer-like conditions in July and have wintery Decembers. But then again I must remind myself that I do reside in Melbourne, and these wacky weather conditions are not uncommon.
My leap of faith is starting this blog. I am terrible, really terrible at anything that requires routine, or regularity so I am hoping that I am able to keep this blog. I can't tell you how many diaries I have started... a page or two... and then nothing.
My hope is to create this journal of things that are GIFT's to me. Things I am Grateful for, things that Inspire me, interesting things I have Found and my Travels to different places.
