“Will you marry me?” Mary asked Blake.
That’s not something you hear every day. It is something you might hear every four years, though.
Women proposing to men is a common tradition that takes place every Leap Day.
Irish tradition states women are encouraged to get down on one knee and propose to their boyfriends on this special day, according to irishcentral.com.
Feb. 29, more specifically known as Leap Day, occurs every four years, and this year it’s back.
This day is added to the calendar every four years in order to make sure the Earth continues its timely orbit around the sun, according to history.com
It takes the Earth about 365.25 days to orbit the sun. Given this number, an extra day is added every four years, giving one year out of every four 366 days.
Julius Caesar is considered the “Father of Leap Year” because it began with the Julian calendar.
However, the Gregorian calendar is the one we use today, but in the midst of changes, it kept a Leap Day.
Babies born on Leap Day are also known as “leaplings,” according to timeanddate.com. There is not an official day leaplings must celebrate their birthday.
It appears some people get engaged on Leap Day, and some people even have anniversaries.
Like the leaplings, they could celebrate the day before or after.
However, if they want to make their anniversary extra special, they could celebrate every four years, on their actual anniversary, and make that one count.
It’s probably easier to remember the date that way.
In the past year, marriage equality among gender was legalized and a woman is seriously campaigning for president of the Untied States. Maybe Leap Day will take on a new tradition in four years as traditional roles taken on by a specific gender, such as the man proposing to the woman, seem to be losing their tradition.
Whether or not you are celebrating with a unique engagement, Leap Day only comes once every four years, so live it up, friends.
Grayson can be reached at intrigue@ThePlainsman.com
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