10 ways to celebrate leap year day

Today only comes once every four years — leap year day.

Feb. 29 is a rarer occurrence than Christmas, Thanksgiving, Bastille Day or whatever your favorite holiday is — yet it hardly gets noticed simply because it’s seemingly just a random day added to the year, just so our calendar can realign with the earth’s rotation around the sun. So, in an effort to give our favorite non-holiday the respect it deserves, we present a few activities for your leap day celebrations.

1. Find and capture a leapling — a newborn leap day baby. (Rumor has it if you hold them down and rub their bellies, they’re required to give you their treasure.)

2. Kiss a frog. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has designated this leap year as the “Year of the Frog” to promote amphibian conservation and give these endangered species a fighting chance. Check out the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston or play a rousing game of Frogger.

3. Thank the heavens that you are not part of a culture that uses the lunisolar calendar, which adds an extra month every few years. One extra day in winter is bad enough ... imagine having to squeeze in a whole month.

4. Propose to your man. Irish folklore claims women were allowed to propose to men on leap year, according to National Geographic. Legend has it that St. Bridget pestered St. Patrick about the fact that women were tired of waiting for their beau to propose to them. He finally relented and said reverse proposals could happen every four years. Then, he went back to chasing snakes.

5. Visit Anthony, Texas, the leap year capital of the world. Residents throw a birthday party for everyone born Feb. 29. What else says leap year like a chili cook-off, hot air balloon ride and a horseshoe tournament?

6. Support the Quadrennial Council, a group of motivated individuals focused on improving the lives of leapers everywhere by challenging the government to add Feb. 29 to every succeeding calendar year. Check out their Web site — seriously — at www.leapday08.com.

7. Go see “Jumper.” Afterward, resist the urge to leap off the J. Wilton Graves Bridge.

8. Make leap day a political issue. Leap year advocates have a myriad issues, such as the fact that Feb. 29 gets no official designation as leap year day from the federal government or most calendar makers. For reasons such as these, the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies recently issued a statement on their Web site (leapyearday.com) during this presidental primary season: “Unfortunately, as has been the case in all 44 presidential campaigns, leap year day is simply not an issue. We won’t be making an endorsement this year because there is no candidate that represents our interests.” We think they’re half-joking.

9. Eat some Hoppin’ John. It’s usually considered a New Year’s Day treat around the Lowcountry, but it’s tasty enough to indulge in more than once a year. Call it, Leapin’ John.

10. Challenge a preschooler to any number of Leapster games. You might actually learn something — like humility.