Where's Leap Day When You Need It Most?

I know Leap Day isn’t an official holiday or anything. Despite having done online college for so long, I am still aware of what actual holidays are.

However, it’s still a special day, so I wanted to acknowledge it. It isn’t every year we get an extra day. (okay, okay. That was a bad joke.)

For all I talk about wanting more hours in a day, I ought to be ecstatic over a whole extra day. The trouble is, it doesn’t make any difference. No more work is getting done just because there’s a 29th of February. When you get right down to it, it’s not an extra day at all. Time doesn’t seem to care much about our calendars.

But what if I really could get an extra day? What if I could interrupt the flow of dates and deadlines with my own, empty day once a year? What would I do with it?

The most practical thing would be to save it for a week when a deadline is coming way too fast. But it would be more fun to put it in the early spring or early fall, the only times the outdoors seem tolerable in Texas.

Or to use it right after I finished cleaning house to enjoy an extra day before the chores start over again.

Maybe I’d use it when I get inspired late at night, so I can stay up as late as I want writing or drawing or reading and sleep the extra day away.

Maybe I’d place it between Christmas Eve and Christmas to try and recapture the anticipation of childhood.

I’d probably want to put it before something I wasn’t looking forward to, but that would only prolong my dread. Better to save an extra day for joy.

Honestly, though, I’d just use my extra day as a chance to spend time on everything I love. I’d read, write, do something artsy, watch a favorite show or two, dance to my playlist in my room, find something new to learn about… then night would come just as quickly as ever and I’d fall asleep dreaming about what I’d do if only there were more hours in a day.

If you also want to spend an extra day tripping the light fantastic, here’s some swing tunes to get you moving:

• In The Mood – Glenn Miller

• New York, New York – Frank Sinatra

• We Are In Love – Harry Connick Jr.

• Happy Feet – Paul Whiteman (Bonus fact: this 1930s group gave Bing Crosby of White Christmas fame his break)

• Loveable And Sweet – Mint Julep Jazz Band

And, though it’s not swing, you can’t go wrong with Linus and Lucy. Those Peanuts kids had moves.