Do you have special plans for February 29th, the extra day we've been given this year? It comes around every four years. Leap years. The reason we have them is because a complete revolution around the sun takes about 365 days and 6 hours. So, an additional 24 hours accumulate every four years and a day is added to the calendar. I think a bigger deal should be made of it, don't you?
     When I was young, Leap Year had a romantic element. Back then, only the male of the species was allowed to propose marriage. A woman would have been thought forward or desperate if she got down on bended knee and ask for her beloved's hand. Leap year was the exception. A woman could pop the question without worrying about being called a hussy. Feminism changed that and now, women can ask their beau to tie the knot whenever their heart desires. And February 29th is treated like any other day. Because it falls on a Friday this year, children will go to school like they always do. Homemakers will wash clothes and polish furniture. Workers will head off to jobs and get stuck in traffic jams. We'll run errands, watch television and cart kids to after school activities. Just another day. I propose a change. A day that comes around so seldom should warrant recognition as a holiday. We could call it National Catch Up Day.
     Imagine what would happen if February 29th was a holiday designated to catching up on things like much-needed slumber. I've read sleep deprivation is a real problem in America and can even be considered a health crisis. Spending an entire day in bed would be our patriotic duty. If we all got an extra 40 winks, this country could face the month of March well rested and rarin' to go.
     Or we could use National Catch Up Day to tackle projects we have put off for years and years—those that hang heavy over our heads because they are always moved to the bottom of the list where they grow bigger and bigger, yet never rate a "must do" because no one sees them but us. We mow the lawn because if we don't, friends and neighbors will notice and think less of us. But no one knows about the boxes of family pictures stashed in the basement, waiting to be organized in photo albums. Wouldn't it be nice to have a catch up day set aside to file the stacks of papers lined up against the wall in the den closet? The tax receipts, bank statements and pictures drawn by grandchildren. My friend Marie understands. If she wasn't expected to be on the job, she says she would use this year's final day of February to get up-to-date on her scrap booking tasks.
     Maybe I could convince Señora Marie to table the scrap booking and study Spanish with me. Learning to speak fluent Español is one of the goals I have never followed through on. If February 29th was designated National Learn a Second Language Day, I would have to do just that.
     So far, my movement to establish Leap Day as a national holiday of any kind has not caught on. Let's pretend it has. Do something special with this 24 hour gift. After all, it's only given to us once every four years. ¿Me entiendes?