Will you observe Leap Year Day?

[Jeff Wrangler]

I never thought about this until I was on my way to work this morning.

[serious crayons]

I never thought about this until I was on my way to work this morning.

Nope, I'm not going to observe it -- I'm going straight to March 1. Then the next day to March 2 and so on, so I'll be a day ahead of the rest of the world from now on.  I'll meet all my deadlines with time to spare, pay bills early, say "happy birthday" to people when it's not yet their actual birthday ...

I suppose you meant, will you observe it with some special activity? The only thing I can think of is I'll try to remember to text "Happy Kangaroo Day!" to my younger son, who was born at about 8 a.m. on March 1, 1996. He came very close, obviously, to being born on Leap Year Day -- if he had, he'd only be 6 now.

So at one point, maybe when he turned 4, I told him about this. Some months after that, he asked to go over the details again. In his memory, I had called it "Kangaroo Day."

Another possibility I just thought of: I could get an extra hour of sleep to make up for the sleep I'll lose the following weekend, when DST begins. (   Did it always begin this early? If not, when did it used to be?)

[Jeff Wrangler]

Another possibility I just thought of: I could get an extra hour of sleep to make up for the sleep I'll lose the following weekend, when DST begins. (   Did it always begin this early? If not, when did it used to be?)

Since 2007, DST begins the first Sunday in March and runs until the first Sunday in November. Before then it began the first Sunday in April and ran until the last Sunday in October. Congress has fiddled with it from time to time. There must still be some sort of local option because Arizona doesn't observe it. (The Navajo Nation does on its Reservation, which is a big chunk of Arizona, so I can't imagine how people keep from being confused.) I remember it being really dark to go Trick-or-Treating when I was a little kid.

Thanks for mentioning this. I had totally forgotten it was this close.

I was thinking, maybe, have a glass of wine, or something, to make Leap Year Day special.

[serious crayons]

Since 2007, DST begins the first Sunday in March and runs until the first Sunday in November. Before then it began the first Sunday in April and ran until the last Sunday in October. Congress has fiddled with it from time to time. There must still be some sort of local option because Arizona doesn't observe it. (The Navajo Nation does on its Reservation, which is a big chunk of Arizona, so I can't imagine how people keep from being confused.)

I remember it being really dark to go Trick-or-Treating when I was a little kid.

I was thinking, maybe, have a glass of wine, or something, to make Leap Year Day special.

Thanks for the info! Arizona may be a different situation than Minnesota because it's so much farther south, but here I would never want to give it up and wouldn't mind having it all year around, which has been proposed. By the end of February, it's somewhat light out when I emerge from work at 6. But a week or so later, 6 will be 5 and it should be dazzlingly bright! (Of course, the 7ish sunrise will become 8ish for a while, but it's worth the tradeoff, and is better than the midsummer, when it's bright out by like 5:30.)

You'd think they'd have figured out the Halloween problem long ago for safety's sake.

Glass of wine is a good idea. Or maybe ... a martini! 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Thanks for the info! Arizona may be a different situation than Minnesota because it's so much farther south, but here I would never want to give it up and wouldn't mind having it all year around, which has been proposed. By the end of February, it's somewhat light out when I emerge from work at 6. But a week or so later, 6 will be 5 and it should be dazzlingly bright! (Of course, the 7ish sunrise will become 8ish for a while, but it's worth the tradeoff, and is better than the midsummer, when it's bright out by like 5:30.)

I wouldn't mind having DST year round, either. I think that people who complain about DST maybe haven't really figured out the implications of not changing the clocks. If we didn't turn the clocks ahead in the spring, around the time of the Summer Solstice sunrise would be around 4:30 in the morning, at least around here. At the other end of the year, if we didn't turn the clocks back an hour in the fall, sunrise around the time of the Winter Solstice would be around 8 a.m. or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the DST complainers wouldn't like that if they got it.

Glass of wine is a good idea. Or maybe ... a martini! 

Sounds like a plan! 

[brianr]

Sunrise is 6.50am here today and we still have about 6 week of DLS. Our daylight saving goes from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April. I am sick of it now as it is dark when I get up at 6am but still light when I go to bed at 9pm.  It will be just before 8am the last day of DLS on April 4. It will be 8.20am at the Winter Solstice. I would hate it if it was still DLS then.

[CellarDweller]

I won't be celebrating it in any way.

[serious crayons]

I won't be celebrating it in any way.

You sound kind of blunt. Do you just mean you haven't made special plans, or that you dislike its existence and therefore don't want to celebrate it? It's a Saturday, so not a work day, if that helps.
 

[Front-Ranger]

Tonight, a new friend of mine said he wanted to walk with me on Leap Day. I can't think of anything better.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tonight, a new friend of mine said he wanted to walk with me on Leap Day. I can't think of anything better.

Seems very sweet.