Leap Into Action

The deals, initiatives, anniversaries and birthdays that only come around once every four years.

When I returned home after a week-long vacation in Banff National Park this past Saturday, I was met with a garage door I forgot needed fixing, a physical therapy appointment I forgot needed scheduling, a parking ticket I forgot needed paying, and—oh, yeah—a magazine deadline I hadn’t quite managed to forget about, no matter how deep into the Canadian Rockies I forged. So, yes—I could use an extra day.

Luckily, if you haven’t already looked at the calendar this morning, it’s Leap Day, an extra 24 hours that, when you consider the 8,784 hours in 2024, isn’t actually all that much. Nonetheless, though our official magazine deadline was February 28, thanks to this extra day, we’re still getting the files to the printer before March. That’s got to count for something.

Between tracking down credits for colorized photos from the early 1900s, editing a story on the off-Broadway boutique coming to Saratoga next month, and debating the merits of capitalizing the job title “president” (our Design issue comes out mid-March!), I did a little digging to find out more about Leap Day. Specifically—ways to spend it, how to make the most of it, and the people whose lives have been most affected by the oddity that is February 29.