Leap Day

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Dancers

Today is Leap Day, the extra day added to the end of February every four years since the adaptation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 to ensure that the rest of the calendar remains properly aligned with the seasons. At first the adjusted calendar was accepted only by Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Over the centuries it was introduced elsewhere, reluctantly, sometimes followed by public rioting, with Great Britain’s American colonies making the change in 1752, and China being the last in 1912.

According to tradition, Leap Day is the day that a woman may propose marriage to a man, instead of the other way around. And if he declines, he is obliged to compensate her with a gift of new gloves, presumably to hide her shameful ring-free hands. Think twice, ladies, before testing to see if this still works; he may surprise you and say Yes.

CakeWeddingAnnette & Jim

(Once every four years they get to celebrate on the correct date)

In Fountain Court

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Today is the birthday of poet Arthur Symons (1865-1945), and I post in his honor this watercolor and poem, although it seems more suitable for a romantic Midsummer Eve than the end of February.

He shares his birthday with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), and for a mini-bio, a painting, and the unforgettable opening lines of “Evangeline,” please see Oh Canada…Oh Henry.

VillageFountain
 The fountain murmuring of sleep,
A drowsy tune;
The flickering green of leaves that keep
The light of June;
Peace, through a slumbering afternoon,
The peace of June.

A waiting ghost, in the blue sky,
The white curved moon;
June, hushed and breathless, waits, and I
Wait too, with June;
Come, through the lingering afternoon,
Soon, love, come soon.
—Arthur Symons

Skating Season?

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SkatingSFPost

In late December or January, I usually take my daughter once or twice for a day of ice-skating at Washington DC’s Sculpture Garden rink, followed by hot cocoa and a cozy stroll through the National Gallery of Art or Museum of Natural History. As an urban skating experience, it’s hard to beat gliding round on a sunny winter day under an icy blue sky among sculptural masterpieces, with distant views of museum facades, the U.S. Capitol, and the Washington Monument.

However, since I fell and fractured my patella just before New Year’s Eve (no drinking was involved, I assure you!), our skating excursions have been put on hold… only temporarily, I hope. But DC’s “winter” weather has been so oddly and disconcertingly balmy this year that it feels more like roller-skating season. Fingers are crossed here for a snowy February.

This illustration is not from DC’s rink, but is my imagined depiction of the rink that existed on the World Trade Center plaza before September 11th, 2001. It was created for the book The Survivor Tree, about which I posted on the ten-year anniversary on September 11th, 2011.

And today is the birthday of Alexander Robey “Boss” Shepherd (1835–1902), whom Washington DC has to thank for much of its 19th-century infrastructure, however unconventionally (some might say illegally) it was obtained. For a mini-bio, please see “Boss” Shepherd.