As I look at the stormy sky over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the sun shines behind me casting a rainbow into the bay. A certain magic fills the air on this extra day that only comes around every four years. In this 29th of February, I am reminded that our months and seasons would be out of equilibrium without this quantum leap every few years.

Here’s why –

Everything is on a rotational cycle between the earth, sun, and moon. It takes the earth 365.24219 days to orbit the sun to be exact. In the Roman calendar used widely today… there are 365.0 days per year. After four years, the leftover hours of about a quarter day will add up to one full day. So on the fourth year, we add this day at the end of February. This keeps our seasons on track. If we didn’t do the math, and add a day then over time our summer equinox would flip into winter the winter time and vice versa.

My final thoughts are the following:

– Learning math wasn’t a lost cause after all!

– The Buddhist, Hebrew, and Chinese calendars are historically more in tune with the earths rotation in relation to the sun and moon.

– Thank goodness the Egyptians helped the Roman’s sort out the calendar to keep our solstices and equinoxes on schedule. Without them, our seasonal homeostasis would be lost.

More information here to learn about the history of this all.

– I am grateful for the extra day of rainbows after a storm, and flowery petals falling from the trees. It’s truly a divine day to write.

What will you do with your extra day?

-Keri

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