February - Does size matter?

When we think of February, we think of the famous groundhog who predicts our spring arrival, for us it is Wiarton Willie, for others it is Punxsutawney Phil. Not a paid holiday here, just a prayer for no sun on the morning of February 2nd.

Wiarton Willie

Punxsutawney Phil

When us Ontariens think of this month we think of our "new" Family Day holiday smack dab in the middle of the month. This is a paid holiday for us. For our American friends, this coincides with President's Day, which doesn't even fall on Washington's birthday, Feb. 22 or Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 17. Go figure!

Family Day fun for snow lovers

February also brings the most romantic day of the whole year, Valentine's Day and for me the anniversary of my work hire date. Again, no paid holiday so just wear red, kiss your sweetheart and get over it.

                                                     

Ash Wednesday falls in February as well, 40 days before Easter Sunday. This is not a holiday but since it is the first day of Lent, it means a special day for most Catholic and some Protestant denominations.





Lastly, February is observed for what it is. The shortest month of the year ending on either February 28 or 29th depending if it is a Leap Year. 2015 is not but 2016 is.

In studying this a bit, I've learned what perhaps you already knew. Julius Ceasar invented the Leap Year and with a few exceptions claims each one is divisible by 4. This whole thing baffled me, it is kind of like the ritual of turning clocks back and ahead. Why do we need one? So, I researched further.

Brief history of the Leap Day

Leap Days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days (a tropical year) to circle once around the Sun. If we didn't add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days in relation to the seasons.

Well! My original thought of  'just leave things alone' was obviously naive. Now I'm sure there is also a great explanation as to why we need bother with our clocks springing forward and falling back in the course of 365 days.  I'm sure someone can explain that one so might have to look it up too.


The point of all this, since February 2015 has ended and we in London, Ontario have broken many records for cold temperatures in this SHORT month, is that size DOES matter!  This small month is jam-packed with many things..............but if it's all the same to you, I've had enough!

Bring me March with all the same days that February has plus 3 bonus days and let's move on to spring.

                       
                                                              

Now there is a subject I like and it is only 17 days away!

Happy March!

I hope you enjoyed my stop over into February 2015. Come back soon!