Hello and welcome to an energetic Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanca. Today is February 29th, aka the LAST day of February and a LEAP DAY!
One of my favorite memoirs is titled, Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move, by former MPR Midmorning host, Katherine Lanpher. She writes, "On Leap Day 2004 I took an actual leap, leaving behind the Midwestern city where I came of age, married, divorced, worked, lived, loved, and prospered for more than two decades, to move to New York. I cried so hard at the airport curb that the strangers milling around me must have thought I was on my way to a funeral. If they had offered me condolences, I would have accepted them."
I thought I might take the occasion to see what Lanpher is up to these days since the publishing of her memoir back in 2006. I found her on Twitter and sent a fan tweet, to which she liked and retweeted. If you're writing a memoir, Katherine will be co-teaching a class at the Madeline Island School for the Arts in July 2020.
For the teens, I found another book, Leap Day, by Wendy Mass a book about friendship and a "soon-to-be-16 Josie Taylor, who was born on Leap Day."
And for the littles, here's a post from the A Teachable Teacher blog for 3 Perfect Leap Year Picture Books to Read Aloud with a recommendations.
Since the last leap year occurred before the inception of the Wannaskan Almanac, I'm the lucky writer who gets to call dibs on the leap year topic, so here we go!
"One year has the length of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds. This is hard to calculate with, so a normal year has been given 365 days and a leap year 366 days. In leap years, February 29th is added as leap day, which doesn't exist in a normal year. A leap year is every 4 years, but not every 100 years, then again every 400 years." (Source)
According to my Facebook birthday reminders, I don't have a Facebook friend with a leap year birthday, but in the real world, I actually know one person who was born on a leap year, a charming fun fact which I'm guessing leads to agony regarding whether to celebrate her birthday on February 28th or March 1st during the non-leap years. If you know someone with a leap year birthday, this is your chance to go big and celebrate like crazy on this day. Don't haste. You won't get another opportunity for another four years.
2020 is my 12th leap year. My first leap year was 1976. I don't have much to say, except my mom tells me I cried a lot.
1980 - I started Kindergarten in Grand Rapids (or was it Cohasset, Mom?) and in this leap year, I moved to Nisswa, Minnesota where I finished my Kindergarten studies at Nisswa Elementary. I remember we had a large fake tree in our classroom, the ridged brown trunk doubled as the secret potty. We gathered along the perimeter of the large class carpet. I loved chocolate milk and I loved even more when I got to be the line leader, lug open the big walk-in freezer in the cafeteria and load the milk up in a red plastic crate and carry it back to our room for snacktime.
(Note: I turned 5 in 1980, so everything I described actually happened in 1981. But I like this memory anyway. I don't remember anything about Grand Rapids Kindergarten except a disconcerting feeling that I wasn't going to fit in. (And maybe a plastic play theater?)
1984 - My parents announced their divorce. My mom broke the news while we ice skated in counterclockwise circles around the ice rink my dad and uncle maintained for all of us kids. Leap Day was on a Monday that year, so I don't think it happened on a leap day, but it was winter for sure.
1988 - Washington Middle School in Brainerd. I sat in the front seat of the yellow school bus with a high school student who taught me all about teased bangs, bad boys, and Jon Bon Jovi.
1992 - I was a junior at Duluth East High School. Leap Day was a Saturday so that was probably when the fancy winter formal was. I didn't go, but I didn't mind. I was already dreaming about being an exchange student when I would graduate the following year.
1996 - I was a student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I had a studio apartment at Cedars 94 on Franklin Avenue, just across the freeway from Augsburg College. I still like to point this out to my kids whenever we drive through that area. Leap Day was on a Thursday. Depending on the weather, I was either walking or taking the bus to German or Dutch language class.
2000 - I got married in Czech Republic. In September - not on Leap Day which was a Tuesday.
2004 - I was the mother of a toddler and a baby. I played a lot. The Wiggles were a hit. I would go to Sauk Rapids High School and exercise in the evenings after hubby got home from work. Getting in shape was very important.
2008 - Two years in Warroad. Three kids. Enjoying the perks of living at the end of the world. Leap Day was a Friday.
2012 - Baby #4, only nine days shy of Leap Day.
2016 - Surprise Baby #5 was 6 months old. 10-year anniversary of living in Wannaska country. I find many in the transplant community who are surprised when we (collectively, meaning the transplants) have lived here this long. We move here thinking it'll only be a year or two. Three, maybe. Five, tops. The next thing you know, the Oldest is graduating high school in the next Leap Year.
2020 - Celebrating two years of writing for the Wannaskan Almanac. (My debut was on February 17, 2018.) Today we are at the Great Northern Regional robotics tournament in Grand Forks. (Click the link to watch live webcasts or download the Blue Alliance app to follow on your smart device. I wish the best of luck to my home team, F.R.E.D. (Fighting Rednecks Engineering and Design), but also to all of our robotics teams across the Wannaska region!
What's my takeaway from this Leap Year analysis?
You may not be in the same place as you were four years ago and you may have a lot more kids than you thought marking the time along the way, so make the most of it!
Happy Leap Day!
Kim
I thought I might take the occasion to see what Lanpher is up to these days since the publishing of her memoir back in 2006. I found her on Twitter and sent a fan tweet, to which she liked and retweeted. If you're writing a memoir, Katherine will be co-teaching a class at the Madeline Island School for the Arts in July 2020.
And for the littles, here's a post from the A Teachable Teacher blog for 3 Perfect Leap Year Picture Books to Read Aloud with a recommendations.
Since the last leap year occurred before the inception of the Wannaskan Almanac, I'm the lucky writer who gets to call dibs on the leap year topic, so here we go!
"One year has the length of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds. This is hard to calculate with, so a normal year has been given 365 days and a leap year 366 days. In leap years, February 29th is added as leap day, which doesn't exist in a normal year. A leap year is every 4 years, but not every 100 years, then again every 400 years." (Source)
According to my Facebook birthday reminders, I don't have a Facebook friend with a leap year birthday, but in the real world, I actually know one person who was born on a leap year, a charming fun fact which I'm guessing leads to agony regarding whether to celebrate her birthday on February 28th or March 1st during the non-leap years. If you know someone with a leap year birthday, this is your chance to go big and celebrate like crazy on this day. Don't haste. You won't get another opportunity for another four years.
2020 is my 12th leap year. My first leap year was 1976. I don't have much to say, except my mom tells me I cried a lot.
1980 - I started Kindergarten in Grand Rapids (or was it Cohasset, Mom?) and in this leap year, I moved to Nisswa, Minnesota where I finished my Kindergarten studies at Nisswa Elementary. I remember we had a large fake tree in our classroom, the ridged brown trunk doubled as the secret potty. We gathered along the perimeter of the large class carpet. I loved chocolate milk and I loved even more when I got to be the line leader, lug open the big walk-in freezer in the cafeteria and load the milk up in a red plastic crate and carry it back to our room for snacktime.
(Note: I turned 5 in 1980, so everything I described actually happened in 1981. But I like this memory anyway. I don't remember anything about Grand Rapids Kindergarten except a disconcerting feeling that I wasn't going to fit in. (And maybe a plastic play theater?)
1984 - My parents announced their divorce. My mom broke the news while we ice skated in counterclockwise circles around the ice rink my dad and uncle maintained for all of us kids. Leap Day was on a Monday that year, so I don't think it happened on a leap day, but it was winter for sure.
1988 - Washington Middle School in Brainerd. I sat in the front seat of the yellow school bus with a high school student who taught me all about teased bangs, bad boys, and Jon Bon Jovi.
1992 - I was a junior at Duluth East High School. Leap Day was a Saturday so that was probably when the fancy winter formal was. I didn't go, but I didn't mind. I was already dreaming about being an exchange student when I would graduate the following year.
1996 - I was a student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I had a studio apartment at Cedars 94 on Franklin Avenue, just across the freeway from Augsburg College. I still like to point this out to my kids whenever we drive through that area. Leap Day was on a Thursday. Depending on the weather, I was either walking or taking the bus to German or Dutch language class.
2000 - I got married in Czech Republic. In September - not on Leap Day which was a Tuesday.
2004 - I was the mother of a toddler and a baby. I played a lot. The Wiggles were a hit. I would go to Sauk Rapids High School and exercise in the evenings after hubby got home from work. Getting in shape was very important.
2008 - Two years in Warroad. Three kids. Enjoying the perks of living at the end of the world. Leap Day was a Friday.
2012 - Baby #4, only nine days shy of Leap Day.
2016 - Surprise Baby #5 was 6 months old. 10-year anniversary of living in Wannaska country. I find many in the transplant community who are surprised when we (collectively, meaning the transplants) have lived here this long. We move here thinking it'll only be a year or two. Three, maybe. Five, tops. The next thing you know, the Oldest is graduating high school in the next Leap Year.
2020 - Celebrating two years of writing for the Wannaskan Almanac. (My debut was on February 17, 2018.) Today we are at the Great Northern Regional robotics tournament in Grand Forks. (Click the link to watch live webcasts or download the Blue Alliance app to follow on your smart device. I wish the best of luck to my home team, F.R.E.D. (Fighting Rednecks Engineering and Design), but also to all of our robotics teams across the Wannaska region!
What's my takeaway from this Leap Year analysis?
You may not be in the same place as you were four years ago and you may have a lot more kids than you thought marking the time along the way, so make the most of it!
Happy Leap Day!
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
2012 - The world's tallest tower is completed
The Tokyo Skytree measures 634 m (2080 ft). It is also the world's second tallest man-made structure, after Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as President of Haiti
The country's first democratically elected president was toppled in a coup d'etat following the assassination of a gang leader. Aristide went into exile in South Africa and returned to Haiti in 2011.
1996 - The siege of Sarajevo is lifted after nearly 4 years
The siege of Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital during the Bosnian War was the longest lasting siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
1996 - A Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing all 123 on board
A wrong barometric altimeter setting caused the pilots to fly too low during an approach to RodrÃguez Ballón International Airport in Arequipa, Peru.
1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black actor to win an Academy Award
She won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in the 1939 historical romance “Gone with the Wind”.
The Tokyo Skytree measures 634 m (2080 ft). It is also the world's second tallest man-made structure, after Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as President of Haiti
The country's first democratically elected president was toppled in a coup d'etat following the assassination of a gang leader. Aristide went into exile in South Africa and returned to Haiti in 2011.
1996 - The siege of Sarajevo is lifted after nearly 4 years
The siege of Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital during the Bosnian War was the longest lasting siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
1996 - A Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing all 123 on board
A wrong barometric altimeter setting caused the pilots to fly too low during an approach to RodrÃguez Ballón International Airport in Arequipa, Peru.
1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black actor to win an Academy Award
She won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in the 1939 historical romance “Gone with the Wind”.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1964 - Mervyn Warren, American singer-songwriter, producer
1960 - Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
1916 - Dinah Shore, American singer, actress
1904 - Pepper Martin, American baseball player, manager
1792 - Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer
1960 - Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
1916 - Dinah Shore, American singer, actress
1904 - Pepper Martin, American baseball player, manager
1792 - Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer
Remembering You
2012 - Davy Jones, English singer, actor
1956 - Elpidio Quirino, Filipino politician, 6th President of the Philippines
1940 - E. F. Benson, English writer
1928 - Ina Coolbrith, American poet
1908 - Pat Garrett, American sheriff
1956 - Elpidio Quirino, Filipino politician, 6th President of the Philippines
1940 - E. F. Benson, English writer
1928 - Ina Coolbrith, American poet
1908 - Pat Garrett, American sheriff
Celebrate Leap Day 2020 by doing something awesome and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
Nice way to break down your life. A lot can happen in four years even if it feels like four seconds.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the amount of hopping. Especially because we've lived here for almost 15 years.
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