What A Difference A Day Makes

by Brendan Smith
Weirs Times Editor

I never used to care much about Leap Years when I was a younger man. Just adding an extra day onto the year didn’t mean much to me at all.
But now that I am older, and especially since I will be turning 65 later this year, I appreciate this year’s Leap much more that you could imagine.
I never even knew why Leap Year existed, but I found out recently with a thorough five-minute search on the Internet. It seems it all came about because of Julius Caesar who, one night after a really rough party on February 27th, slept through the next day and was pretty upset that it was now March 1st instead of February 28th and knew he had to spend the day signing Social Security checks for the Roman seniors, which he couldn’t do with a hangover.
So, Caesar proclaimed that it was actually February 29th so he could get his head together. (Apparently, Caesar did the same thing four years later and, thus, tradition took over.)
Some others say that Leap Year has to do with the rotation of the earth and others claim it was created to give politicians running for president one extra day to try and bamboozle people into voting for them (as well as an extra day of political ad revenues for TV and radio stations).
But it is the Internet, so I can choose which story I’d like to believe, so I’m sticking with the Caesar one.
Still, in the end, it doesn’t really matter why. Having an extra day, an extra 24 hours an extra 1.440 minutes, an extra 86,400 seconds every four years is something I certainly am not taking for granted any longer.
So, I have been thinking about how I will embrace this extra day and not waste it away on frivolous activity.
I see those much younger than me going about their daily lives, the grim looks on their early morning face as they trudge off to work, not even a thought that they have been gifted with an extra precious day.
If you are one of them, I ask you to join in with me and change your thinking. You can use some of the suggestions I have here on how to make the best of this time, or, you can come up with your own. It makes no difference, just as long as you take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Take that extra day to just reflect. Sit down, take a deep breath, slow your thinking and just take in where you are in the now. Look at what’s around you. Your home, your belongings, that door handle to the closet you’ve been meaning to fix for a year, that spot in the corner of the kitchen counter that needs cleaning. “What the heck is that thing crawling across the carpet? Is that a bug?”

Okay, maybe not. How about…

Start That Novel You’ve Been Meaning To Read – All your friends have been talking about it, now it is your time to crack that book, put up your feet and dig in. Wow, this plot is really involved, so many twists and turns, I can’t wait to see how it ends. Gee, this character reminds me of Jim, I haven’t talked to him in years…that SOB still owes me money. I knew I never should have trusted that guy.

Okay, let’s try something else…

Take A Walk Around Your Neighborhood – Take a leisurely stroll and really take in the surroundings. Try to notice things you haven’t really noticed before. The different trees, the sounds of the birds. How the heck can he afford that new Lexus? Are they ever going to clean up their yard? Is that a shingle falling off my roof? Oh man, how much is that going to cost to replace?

Hmmm..well, there’s always..

Learn How To Make A New Recipe – There is nothing like the satisfaction of creating a wonderful meal from scratch. We don’t often have time to do that with our busy schedules. Put on that apron and get started. Hmm… we don’t have any garlic. Can you still use spice that is seven years old? I thought we had more flour than this. What in the heck is a spiralizer? Guess I’ll have to make a trip to the store and get some heavy cream..Arrghh!!
Well, forget that maybe just…

Catch Up On Current Events- You’ve been taking at face value what others have been telling you about politics, etc. Now is the perfect time to read up on things and make your own opinions on what is going on in politics. Well, on second thought…
There’s always…

Take A Nap – Nothing like do nothing in the middle of the day, closing your eyes and drifting off and forgetting about the day’s events. Shoot, I forgot to pay the electric bill it was due yesterday. What’s that lump on my leg, that wasn’t there yesterday I don’t think. What the heck is that noise outside?
Oh well, at least we put the clocks ahead this weekend so I’ll have one less hour to worry about all this stuff.
Thanks for nothing Julius.