unique tribute to an unique day

555 Sir Guy, loved the tribute to the 'leap year" thank you!

I was hoping someone would commemorate Leap Day and Stan you did it in fine fashion. This day is an anniversary for me of sorts. It was only four years ago that I bid my fond farewell to the USAF. That day was Feb 29, 1992. Thanks for remembering the most confusing day on the calendar and the one that caused the most trouble especially among The Eastern Church back in the 1920s when the Greek government forced the church to get with the "new" calander. There is an awesome and mind blowing story about "The Cross in the Sky" that occurred in Athens on the night of Monday, Sep, 14, 1925. This cross was also seen by my mother in law during a church outing during the day on Sunday Aug 30, 1925. Thing is that it happened on the very same day, just that Greece and the US were using different calanders at the same time. The event sparked panic and praise for the heavens in both Iowa and Athens as my Mother in law described and as what I have read about the event in Athens. In the 1925 event in Greece they were still using the old calander and did not want it changed because it would change the dates of Church Holy Days. In the US of course we were using the modern calander. Even the time difference between Greece and Iowa fell in line with the times of the event. What a difference a day makes! I'm trading you three 5's for one 29. Fine job Stan.

Thanks, folks. Actually, I made several false starts on a LYD salute ("29 Days on the Calendar's Page" /"99 Bottle of Beer on the Wall," "My 02/29"/"My Funny Valentine," even a one riffing on the "Februay made me shiver" line in "American Pie"), before this one leapt into my head almost fully formed. Guy -- that's some story. Today promises to be a special day for me as another great-nephew should enter this world before it ends. :-)

Someone had to write a parody about Leap Year before it went by. Good use of the original song.

Stan - Be sure to let us know what month that child is born into. I had a brother-in-law with this birthday but he has passed on now.

I did a lot of research on the "Cross in the Sky" event and I have found nothing to debunk it except for an atheist site I once visited and they would only deny that it actually happened as a devine event, but were at somewhat of a loss to prove what it actually was. Go figure. They are just sure about what it isn't. It's a matter of faith as to what one believes. I just know that the same event was viewed on the same date in two different hemispheres at the same time. As it was explained to me by my Mother in law who was a young farm girl of 10 years 10 months of age that the sky went dark and the cross lit the sky for probably 1/2 hour and in Athens it was 11:30PM and the event lasted until around midnight. Of course the sky was dark and the cross was light in Athens as it was reported.

Guy -- I will indeed let you know. Re the "Cross in the Sky" even, I'd never heard of it before your mention. It does sound a curious phenomenon, tho', about which I'll have to see what Uncle Google can tell me. Personally, I entertain no theistic beliefs; an entirely secular subscription to the so-called "Golden Rule" pretty much covers the territory for me. :-)

Stan - To each his own. The story that you may find about Athens isn't much on it's own it is my part added to it that almost no one knows because I just only figured this out recently. My wife and I recall a dark cold winter night in Iowa as we made a car trip about 80 miles from a place called Stratford to a small town 60 miles east of Sioux City when the night sky was lit up by a very bright light. It was clear so it was not lightening. Could have been a meteor or space debris re-entering or simply northern lights in robust mode. My wifes mother was along and she related the story of the cross to us. She didn't have a lot of detail about the story as she was quite young and she related that everyone ran into the church and prayed and praised the lord in great fear. It was confusing for a 10 year old to experience. I have no doubt that my Mother in law did indeed witness what she spoke of. She was a very devout Christian and I doubt had the capibility to lie, she loved the Lord that much. I knew her for 25 years before her death and she never spoke ill of anyone and followed the golden rule to the hilt. I began to try to piece the story together with the event in Athens. We knew her age at the time, we knew that it was just before school started in the fall and we knew it was a Sunday. I pulled up a calander from 1925 and found that Sep 14th was a Monday. Then I remembered that the Greeks were on the old calander from some information I'd gathered on their Cross in the Sky event. I subtracted 15 days and came up with Sunday, Aug 30, 1925. If you dig up anything on this event please email me at grdirito@yahoo.com. I'm continuing research on the event. Any happy news yet on the newest member of the Stan Hall clan?

Very fine job of Yesterleaping

Guy ... FYI, 7lb1oz great_niece_ arrived intact & healthy 6:50pm 2/29/2008. Quickie Google yesterday afternoon turned up no info you don't already have re 1925 event, but I'll retry when I get a chance. Meanwhile, please understand that I never intended to suggest that your MIL (or anyone else, FTM) was lying about the phenomenon she witnessed or to question the sincerity of her understanding of it. Instead, bearing in mind the well-documented and oft-demonstrated influence of preconceived notions, beliefs,etc., upon perception, particularly of things not readily explicable in reference to the "ordinary" run of experience, I simply prefer to defer -- indefinitely, if need be, in relation to the brevity of the individual human's tenure as nature observer -- explanation/understanding rather than accept -- or from my personal perspective, settle for -- a simple deistic one. Shrug.

On a much less complicated note: I liked the parody!

Needs work!! 4-4-4

Leap years do bring us one more day of "Bank interest".