By Ande Jacobson
29 February only occurs in years divisible by 4, and for centennial years, only those divisible by 400. This little oddity has been written about in verse in that famous poem that has become a favorite mnemonic for remembering how many days each month contains:
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
Growing up, leap years were exciting in a good way. We had the Olympics, both winter and summer in leap years. Because of a decision made by the Olympic committee in 1986, starting in 1994, the summer and winter games alternated in even years. That means that now only the summer games are held in leap years. In the summer of 2024, that extravaganza will take place in Paris, France.
U.S. presidential elections are held in leap years (barring the non-leap year centennials of course). While presidential elections always have the potential to be a little dicey, until relatively recently, the differences meant some potential policy shifts, but it didn’t really seem as if democracy itself was on the line. This leap year just like the last one, democracy’s fate is as yet undetermined.
Also of note this fine leap year is that this one is less traumatic than the last one with respect to the pandemic. 2020 was the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, though many of us didn’t really know it as of 29 February 2020. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that everything dramatically changed with lockdowns snapping into place across the country in attempts to control the spread of COVID-19. Now in 2024, people are trying to pretend as though the pandemic is over even though it’s not and may never fully end. While a small group of people still take every precaution that they have been since our last leap year by masking around others, avoiding crowds, getting their shots, and so forth, the vast majority of people are behaving as they did before the last leap year resuming their regular activities and routines.
Of course all of the things that happen during leap years aren’t really what makes them truly special. That distinction rests with two specific dates within the year. The first is obviously leap day itself – the 29th of February. For those born on that day, their lives are a little different than most. The obvious biggie is that the day they “normally” celebrate their birthday is not the one on which they were born, at least according to the Gregorian Calendar, the calendar most people use. There is one calendar that can be consistent though – the Julian Calendar. On that one, 29 February falls on Julian Day 060, or JD060 for short, the 60th day of the year. For those leaplings who observe their birthday in terms of the Julian Calendar, it only falls in their actual birth month during leap years. The rest of the time, it falls on 1 March, although not all leapings choose this route. Some prefer to always mark their birthday at the end of February, so for them, they celebrate a day early three out of four years. This group is more in-sync with how official records have been kept since the year 2000 (or Y2K), the most recent centennial leap year.
Before Y2K, there was no real consistency of when a leapling’s birthday counted in a non-leap year on various official records. Sometimes it was the end of February, sometimes it was the beginning of March, although either way, things like driver’s licenses would often expire on a date that didn’t exist. Many of the computer related changes made for Y2K fixed that so there is more consistency now. It is odd that it took so long for that to happen though given leap years aren’t a new concept, although Y2K was the first centennial crossing since the start of the computer age. The other day of concern that year was JD366, or 31 December 2000. Beyond there being that extra day, the rollover into the next year caused software engineers to fret. Fortunately, there weren’t notable catastrophic meltdowns due to that rare centennial occurrence. Most of us who were part of Y2K development efforts won’t be around for the next centennial crossing. For those who are around then, it will be interesting to note how computer systems perform from 31 December 2199 through 1 January 2201 given the year 2200 will not be a leap year.
Each leap year has its own peculiarities and challenges that make it memorable. In my own lifetime, I have fond memories of each one for very different reasons, although the two aforementioned leap years (Y2K and 2020) stand out above all others.
Because I was a software/systems engineer professionally before I retired, Y2K will always be memorable as a heady success. We planned for the worst and were pleased that none of the chaotic situations we imagined occurred.
2020, for me at least, will never completely go away either. Because of my own medical situation, I am one of that relatively small group of people who continue to take every precaution possible to avoid the pandemic. I get every vaccination available to me as soon as I can get it. I still wear my mask every time I leave my home for any reason and strictly avoid crowds. I continue to socialize remotely, although to be fair, I am an introverted hermit at heart anyway, so remote socialization had been my preference all along.
2020 was also the year I become far more politically involved because of the importance of that year’s election. Prior to 2020, I voted in every election, and I wrote a bit about things that I cared about, more so since 2016, but I hadn’t gotten actively involved in any campaigns until 2020. That year I did. I joined the Biden text team for the general election and became one of the text team moderators. I learned a lot that year about the country that I really hadn’t known. In my younger days, I had done some traveling for work that took me to other regions of the country, but I didn’t realize the extent of the philosophical differences until my work during the general election campaign in 2020. That year, the responses I saw from voters ran across the political spectrum and opened my eyes to the extent of the divisions we faced.
The 2024 election promises to make this a leap year that will be unforgettable. It can either be a good year or a disastrous one, and only time will tell which way it will go.
2024 also represents the U.S. on the upswing. The U.S. economy has recovered from the pandemic hits far faster than any other developed nation. The country’s unemployment rate is at record lows. Yes, there is division on the political battlefield, but there is reason to be optimistic. The vast majority of Americans want democracy to thrive. That majority needs to make its voice heard at the ballot box to keep us on the upswing.
It’s going to be a long year, but it could be a great one, and for the leaplings among us, they get their special day which is always a treat to relish.
A Good Reed Review 