Holidays

Leap Day 2016


This day is when the “loose change” of four “quarters” collected during the previous four years is resolved into a “dollar,” or a complete day. 2016 and every other leap year has 366 days and today, February, 29, 2016 is the 60th day of the year which would occur on March 1st in non-leap years.

Before the Gregorian Calendar, Romans and other civilizations had to ad-lib synchronization of their primitive calendars to accommodate the actual sidereal motion of the Earth around the sun by adding and subtracting days and even months.

From Wikipedia:

The calendar of the Roman king Numa Pompilius had only 355 days (even though it was not a lunar calendar) which meant that it would quickly become unsynchronized with the solar year. An earlier Roman solution to this problem was to lengthen the calendar periodically by adding extra days to February, the last month of the year.

February consisted of two parts, each with an odd number of days. The first part ended with the Terminalia on the 23rd, which was considered the end of the religious year, and the five remaining days formed the second part.

To keep the calendar year roughly aligned with the solar year, a leap month, called Mensis Intercalaris (“intercalary month”), was added from time to time between these two parts of February. The (usual) second part of February was incorporated in the intercalary month as its last five days, with no change either in their dates or the festivals observed on them. This followed naturally, because the days after the Ides (13th) of February (in an ordinary year) or the Ides of Intercalaris (in an intercalary year) both counted down to the Kalends of March (i.e. they were known as “the nth day before the Kalends of March”). The Nones (5th) and Ides of Intercalaris occupied their normal positions.

Before the Gregorian Calendar, which is in use currently, the Julian Calendar also added leap days to compensate for the actual solar circuit. When Pope Gregory XIII, introduced the new calendar in October 1582, many of the Julian Calendar errors were corrected at the expense of rearranging some important historical events to different dates than were originally established, mostly out of the Church’s desire to celebrate Easter near the time of the Vernal Equinox.

Happy Leap Day!

Early Valentine Gifts

Chocolate Strawberries

Since we’re going to be on the road during the St. Valentine’s Holiday, Bob thought it would be best to present me with my gift before we get going. Yesterday, I received a couple of pieces of Waterford Crystal, namely, a nice nine inch crystal bowl and a crystal seahorse paperweight which is more of a showcase knick-knack than a paperweight. I have received Waterford crystal for Valentines Day for a number of years now. It is nice to see the tradition continue.

Today, a box containing a dozen delicious chocolate-covered strawberries showed up. You can see from the image above, that I already enjoyed one of these tasty delicacies before taking the photo, since there are only eleven left in the box now in the fridge. I plan to “ration” them out at no more than one per day until they’re gone. Click on the image to enlarge.

Christmas 2015


Damsel and I wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas! We hope that you all have been and will continue to be blessed as we have been.

We are spending our Christmas with each other and our dogs at home, away from the hubbub and secure in our little house. We plan to travel and visit with family and friends after the new year begins.

Damsel took the image seen in the animation above on New Year’s Eve, 2014, just about a year ago. It was the ONLY snow day that we have seen in the five years since moving to Arizona.

Again, blessings to you and yours and enjoy the Christmas Holiday.

Christmas Shopping and Shipping Done!

Christmas Shipping DoneWe left many relatives and friends in California when we moved to Arizona. We still like to get Christmas gifts for the children who live out there (grandchildren, a great grandchild, nieces and nephews). So, today was my day to finish Christmas wrapping, Christmas cards and Christmas shipping.

I spent some of the morning addressing envelopes and stuffing them with our custom cards. Our card exchange list is pretty small, so that didn’t take too much time.

Next, I brought out all the gifts we have been accumulating since last Christmas (yes, I shop all year long for the right stuff), wrapped them and put on the labels for each. Then, I packaged them into the five boxes destined for the five families out there with kids. Bob prepared the USPS Priority Mail labels for the boxes which I taped on to each one.

Image: Boxes at the mailbox ready for USPS pick up

We stacked all the boxes by the mailbox when they were ready. We just made it under the wire since a few minutes after we put them there, the USPS carrier showed up, loaded the boxes in the little van and headed off for the next stop along the route. Click on the image to enlarge.

‘Tis the Season

Christmas Decorating

With the advent of the Christmas Season, each year, I put out our usual ornaments and decorations. The red balls on the green palo verde tree, the poinsettias around the mailbox, the wreath on the courtyard gate and the Nutcracker Guards on either side of the walkway.

Inside, we have a little Christmas tree, some Christmas troll dolls and a chili pepper wreath, among other various and sundry Christmas items. We are ready for our fifth Christmas in our wonderful retirement palace.

Happy Thanksgiving!


We have so much to be thankful for this year. We’re in good health, blessed by God’s bounty and have a wonderful extended family.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and to yours!

CB&D