Leap Day! There's a long and valid reason why there's an extra day every four years but for most geocachers Leap Day is important because it's an opportunity to fill in the hardest spot on their calendar; The almost mythical February 29th box that if you miss making a find there's a long, long wait until another opportunity comes around.
I could explain the reason why there's Leap Years, but that's not really as interesting as some fun facts; there's an Irish tradition on Leap Day that is called Bachelor's Day where women propose marriage and if the man refuses they were expected to buy the woman a silk gown. It supposedly originated from a bargain made between Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick (I managed to reference another holiday, cool!). This tradition was also recognized elsewhere with some variations, such as in the United Kingdom where the same premise of women proposing to men was also done but if refused the man had to buy her twelve pairs of gloves to hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring to wear.
The Bachelor's Day tradition on Leap Day exists in a way even today. One fun modern example is in Aurora, Illinois where on Leap Day single women are deputized and have the ability to arrest single men, subjecting them to a hefty $4 fine. Anyway, if your a geocacher be sure to get out there and find a geocache because if you miss it your next opportunity isn't until 2020!
Here I am, just waiting for February 29th to fill my calendar day....
Congrats to DawnAIC for leaping out of bed early and walking 2.13 miles for FTF, Looking 4 Secrets for STF & SynDaLog for TTF! Congrats to finger licking good & nyrose314's son for his first geocache!
Nominated by NYC Geocaching for Best Series and Winner for Best Hike, thanks everyone! 😅