Tomorrow, you will receive a precious gift: an extra day.
Because 2012 is a leap year, you will have 24 hours more in your year. Even those of you who pretend that they don’t have enough time, have no more excuse not to do what they want to do.
Make use of this rare opportunity! Don’t go to work! (You can blame it on not knowing about this oddity or on operating on last year’s calendar.)
Instead, use this unexpected extra day to do what you have always wanted to do:
- Learn how to dive.
- Climb a volcano.
- Send a letter to a relative or friend that you haven’t contacted in years.
- Learn the cricket rules.
- Make a barbecue.
- Turn off your phone and read a book.
- Milk a cow.
- Use a bus or a train that you have never used and see where it goes. Walk back.
- Draw a pirate treasure map and hide it where people can find it.
- Use rope skipping as your only means of moving all day.
- Wash your cat.
- Cook as much spaghetti as you can and invite your friends.
- Write a short story (and send it to this blog for publication).
- Try to get into the neighbouring country, evading the border controls.
- Run for public office.
- Emigrate to Bhutan.
- Tell your children the truth.
- Repair your bicycle.
- Pick up a language course and learn a new language.
- Give chocolate to everybody whom you meet today.
- Enrol in university.
- Start a flash-mob.
- Go walking into the same direction as long as you can or until you reach the sea (or fall off the earth).
- Build a snow sculpture.
- Plant a tree.
- Drive backwards all day.
- Pretend that you don’t speak your native language.
- Build an aquarium.
- Eat only ice cream all day.
- Put up a zip-line in your backyard.
- Do some parkour jumps.
- Join the military.
- Take colour copies of all the money that you have.
- Fix the buttons on all your clothes.
- Catch a fish.
- Paint your house in a different colour.
- Give away all the clothes you have not worn in a year.
- Write a sudoku.
- Go to the park and ask strangers to play chess with you.
- Enrol in a monastery.
- Record the sound of a helicopter and play it as loud as possible when people are close.
- Read the constitution.
- Eat vegetarian for a day.
- Talk about bombs and explosions all day to attract the attention of the FBI.
- Volunteer at an animal shelter.
I hope you will enjoy your extra day! Let me know what you did.
The Happy Hermit 
All month I have been writing about what I have done in the past on this extra day and what I plan to do tomorrow–I celebrate my birthday every 4 years only and I CELEBRATE!!!
Absolutely love your take on February 29th…who couldn’t use an extra day? Me, I’d love to take this one and just go back to bed and rest…perhaps I will! This blog entry made me smile. Things I’d like to do, which you suggested, are milk a cow (hey, I’ve lived in Ireland for 20+ years very near to cows and have never once asked to milk one), give chocolate to everybody you meet today (just a fun idea and I love chocolate), pretend you don’t speak your native language (boy, would you learn alot about your native countryman or what with that one?), and enroll in a monastery (just sounds so peaceful). The only thing you left off your list was “propose to someone you love”! Hope you have a great Leap Year day and thanks for reaching out. Slan!
Reblogged this on In an Irish Home and commented:
Hello Dear Friends…this blog by Andreas Moser about Feb 29th is a great read and will surely make you smile. I’m off to milk a cow or give chocolate to everyone I meet today! Slan.
Today is my birthday–I am 19!!!!
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Well, I didn’t catch a fish or wash a cat, but I caught my cat that ran away last night! (Okay, fine, he was curled up asleep on the front porch this morning. Doesn’t that count for SOMETHING? ;) )
And though it isn’t on Leap Day, I go for my first eye exam in 16 years! (Poverty sucks, trust me.) A few days later, I should have new specs, so I’ll be able to see what you’re writing! (Well, that’s actually not a problem – I’m near-sighted, so all I CAN do without glasses is read – or fall over things.)
Yep. Life is just non-stop excitement here in SE Ohio! :D
Was shopping in Paris with a sorely missed friend. :)