The weirdest non-holiday of the year is upon us.
Leap day is a wrinkle in time that is not mentioned in many wall and desk calendars. Those born on February 29 may have trouble filling out forms or settling basic identity questions.
“People didn’t believe I was born on a day that didn’t exist,” said Raenell Dawn, who was born on February 29, 1960, describing her school years.
In 1983, while working in retail, Ms. Avgi met a customer who was a fellow babe. “I was so excited to meet him,” she said. Then came a moment of disappointment when he learned that the man had no special feeling for his birthday.
“He didn’t seem to care a single jump!” said Mrs. Dawn. “It made me realize — I’ve done it took find people born on that birthday ie happy for this, this I get the.”
He started a club for “leapers” or “leaplings”, as he calls those born on February 29. He recruited the first members through newspaper ads (it was the 80s). Years later, he met Peter Brouwer, a jumper who had set up a similar club. They joined forces to create the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies.
Ms. Dawn, who lives in Oregon, said she would like to see a leap year and leap years, given the dignity of capitalization. To support her case, she cites Groundhog Day, which is capitalized in dictionaries and news publications.
Ms. Avgi also tries to help self-haters to be proud of their special status. “They think it’s the stupidest day to be born,” he said. “I answer that the 29th of February is the most important date in the calendar — it is the date that keeps all dates in line. Our birthday represents balance and harmony.”
He said he has also written to calendar manufacturers, asking them to print “Leap Day” on the box for February 29. “I’m not getting any answers,” Ms Dawn said. “How much can it cost to write seven letters?”
Some cultures treated the day as a 24-hour break from cultural norms. According to an Irish folk tradition, women propose to men on Leap Day. “Leap year,” a 2010 romantic comedy starring Amy Adams, made use of this premise.
Former New York Times columnist Russell Baker opposed putting the first day on the calendar. In 1968 column, wrote that it was “pure masochism to take the perfectly good extra day that a leap year gives us and use it to extend February.” His solution? Take it to summer. “July 32 is no more absurd than February 29,” Mr. Baker wrote.
Chad Orzel, professor of physics and astronomy at Union College and author of “A brief history of timing,” said that placing the bonus day at the end of February is “just tradition.”
“The Romans stuck it there,” he said, referring to the calendar established more than 2,000 years ago under Julius Caesar.
Leap years result from the fact that it takes the Earth a little more than 365 days to revolve around the sun — 365 days, 6 hours and 9 minutes, to be exact. Without the occasional extra day, a calendar would not be in sync with the seasons.
The ancient Romans almost got it right when they added a 366th day every four years. But they had miscalculated the length of a year by 11 minutes. Over the centuries, those 11 minutes can really add up.
The Gregorian calendar—promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII and still in use today—finally solved the problem known as calendar drift. It did so by “removing leap year status from three out of four years of the century, except those divisible by 400,” Mr. Orzel said.
In recent years, timers have proposed alternative calendars, including one created by two faculty members at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics, and Richard Henry, professor of physics and astronomy. The Hanke-Henry Perpetual Calendar eliminates the leap day and resolves the calendar shift by adding a full week at the end of December every six years.
“The geek crowd, the Silicon Valley crowd, go for these things,” Mr. Hanke said. But practically speaking, he added, there was no interest in ditching the current format.
Leap day babies probably wouldn’t support the Hanke-Henry calendar given their birthday treatment. But at least they have their own anthem, a song called “2/29” by San Diego rock band Rookie Card.
Sample lines:
So you think it’s hard to be born near Christmas?
Try going out on a day that doesn’t exist
In three to four years
I will have no more faith
Adam Gimbel, 52, a member of the band who was born in September, said he wrote the song as a result of a fleeting thought: “I wonder if people born on the leap get this feeling that the world frowns upon them.”
His jingle reached Ms. Dawn’s advocate, who shared it with her community. This year Mr. Giebel made a music video for “2/29,” with babies singing the lyrics.
“What’s funny is how many letters I’ve gotten from people saying, ‘You guys really get us,'” he said.
As for Ms Dawn, she’ll be 64 on leap year – or, rather, sweet 16.
“Oh man,” he said. “It’s like Christmas is coming.”