If you did not now it by now, 2008 is a “leap year.” That means an extra day of winter this year just as the groundhog predicted. “Why leap years?” you ask. Just as cars and spines need periodic adjustments, so does the earth. Our calendar needs to be kept in sync with the earth’s motion around the sun. A guest lecturer at the Pottsville Planetarium stated that without the leap years being added periodically, all of our days would get jumbled up, our television shows would appear at the wrong times, and the earth would be propelled out of its normal orbit around the sun and slowly drift off towards Pluto.
You probably thought that leap years occurred every four years to coincide with the Schuylkill County Senior Olympics. How wrong you are. Not about the Senior Olympics but about the raison d’etre of leap years. I came up with this handy Leap Year Guide to help you:
1. Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year. 2008 is divisible by 4, producing the number 502.
2. Forget Rule #1 if the year is divisible by 100. 2008 is not, so remember rule #1.
3. Forget Rule #2 if the year that is divisible by 100 is also divisible by 400. For example, the year 2000 is divisible by 4 making it a leap year. But it is divisible by 100, so it is disqualified and not a leap year. However, Rule #3 once again makes it a leap year as it is divisible by 400. (Pss…the correct answer is 500).
4. The extra day that a leap year gains is traditionally February 29th. The reasons are obvious as the month got short-changed to begin with. Also most people enjoy having one extra day of winter rather than summer.
5. At the stroke of midnight on February 28th everyone must turn his or her clocks back 24 hours. Or suffer the consequences of having the clocks explode.
6. Forget Rule #5 if you still use a sundial. Sundials are generally frozen to the ground in late February.
7. “Even” decades have three leap years in them, while “odd” decades have two leap years in them. I questioned this one as the 1960s was the oddest of decades but it had three leap years.
8. February 29th is referred to as “Sadie Hawkins’ Day” in Joliett, where the women get to marry anyone (man or woman) they can get their hands on. Other parts of the county celebrates it on November 15th.
9. Singers Dinah Shore and Ja Rule are the two most widely known leap year babies in the free world. These two singers made popularized our beloved “gangster rap” music with the likes of “Holla Holla", "It's Murda, "World's Most Dangerous,” "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", and "Buttons and Bows." Sadly, Ms. Shore passed away but Ja Rule is still alive with the help of numerous body guards. Before her death, Dinah and Ja Rule did collaborate on one Leap Year Tribute album, aptly titled “Buttons and ‘Ho’s.” It is available at Renninger’s Market.
10. Jimmy Dorsey is the most famous Schuylkill County leap year baby. The anniversary of the big band leader will go by largely unnoticed. Schuylkill County likes to honor former school board or water authority directors. He does not fit in those categories. Many believe Jimmy Dorsey was the twin brother of Tommy Dorsey, but they are wrong. Romulus and Remus, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Chang and Eng Bunker are twins but not the Dorseys.
May you and your family have a joyous, healthy and prosperous Leap Day.
You probably thought that leap years occurred every four years to coincide with the Schuylkill County Senior Olympics. How wrong you are. Not about the Senior Olympics but about the raison d’etre of leap years. I came up with this handy Leap Year Guide to help you:
1. Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year. 2008 is divisible by 4, producing the number 502.
2. Forget Rule #1 if the year is divisible by 100. 2008 is not, so remember rule #1.
3. Forget Rule #2 if the year that is divisible by 100 is also divisible by 400. For example, the year 2000 is divisible by 4 making it a leap year. But it is divisible by 100, so it is disqualified and not a leap year. However, Rule #3 once again makes it a leap year as it is divisible by 400. (Pss…the correct answer is 500).
4. The extra day that a leap year gains is traditionally February 29th. The reasons are obvious as the month got short-changed to begin with. Also most people enjoy having one extra day of winter rather than summer.
5. At the stroke of midnight on February 28th everyone must turn his or her clocks back 24 hours. Or suffer the consequences of having the clocks explode.
6. Forget Rule #5 if you still use a sundial. Sundials are generally frozen to the ground in late February.
7. “Even” decades have three leap years in them, while “odd” decades have two leap years in them. I questioned this one as the 1960s was the oddest of decades but it had three leap years.
8. February 29th is referred to as “Sadie Hawkins’ Day” in Joliett, where the women get to marry anyone (man or woman) they can get their hands on. Other parts of the county celebrates it on November 15th.
9. Singers Dinah Shore and Ja Rule are the two most widely known leap year babies in the free world. These two singers made popularized our beloved “gangster rap” music with the likes of “Holla Holla", "It's Murda, "World's Most Dangerous,” "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", and "Buttons and Bows." Sadly, Ms. Shore passed away but Ja Rule is still alive with the help of numerous body guards. Before her death, Dinah and Ja Rule did collaborate on one Leap Year Tribute album, aptly titled “Buttons and ‘Ho’s.” It is available at Renninger’s Market.
10. Jimmy Dorsey is the most famous Schuylkill County leap year baby. The anniversary of the big band leader will go by largely unnoticed. Schuylkill County likes to honor former school board or water authority directors. He does not fit in those categories. Many believe Jimmy Dorsey was the twin brother of Tommy Dorsey, but they are wrong. Romulus and Remus, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Chang and Eng Bunker are twins but not the Dorseys.
May you and your family have a joyous, healthy and prosperous Leap Day.
P.S. Stay out of Joliett until the day is over.
No comments:
Post a Comment