The Last Day of February

February 1900 calendar from Japanese Calendar with Verses by Osman Edwards

Most years it is the last day of the month of February.

All years, it is, except, leap years.

On leap years, we leap - sort of.

"February 29 is a leap day or "leap year day", an intercalary date added periodically to leap years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars." - Wikipedia

Some things happened on February 29, the least respected and underappreciated day of every fourth year.

 

There is the question of how many birthdays would you have had to date if you had been born on the 29th.

To remember the twenty ninth is not to disregard the 28th. Stuff happened.

Do you celebrate on 2-28 or 3-1?

'

In case there is too much controversy over this tug-of-war concerning the 28/29 divide, I take this stand:

Whatever the day hold, I will embrace it with this attitude:

TODAY MATTERS!

TODAY

______

 

T - A TIC

on the tic-toc scale, a TIPPING point in TIME, TO-BE written,

O - OPPORTUNITIES

abound, obstacles obscure, but do not overwhelm.

D - DOING

is immediate. I cannot just being materializes into doing. I must DO.

A - ALL

we have in time is today to ACTIVATE our dreams.

Y - YES

is our answer to the day's invitation to live, YES to all that God has in store.

YES!

Without February 29, we would not have this work:

Augusta Savage at work on the sculpture that would become known as “The Harp.”Credit...via The New York Public Library

Now, back to the 29, which we shall either observe tomorrow or today.

Who Was Born?

As it turns out, many were. Here are some:

1468 – Pope Paul III
1528 – Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian
1640 – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist
1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator
1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer
1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers
1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer

Let's take a moment to celebrate that:

Now, more births:

1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet, and activist
1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor, as nooted above.

Then, do not forget Jimmy Dorsey! He emerged from the womb in 1904 and the music is still with us!

But what else happened?

In 1644 – Abel Tasman's second Pacific voyage began as he left Batavia in command of three ships.

In 1712 – February 29 was followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar. Now, that is a twist!

In 1940 – For her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award.

In 2020 – The United States and the Taliban signed the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan. The jury is still out on that one.

I should end this with something profound like, make each day count' it only comes once every four years, but I will resist. 

There is always tomorrow, whatever that day may be!

I will end with an irrelevant song - just because it is the one I am enjoying at the moment. Make of that what you will!