So it's Leap Day. It only comes once every four years. An extra day to balance out the calendar.

But what if we didn't have leap day? How long would it take before spring slid backwards into winter and winter slid into the season we traditionally know as summer?

I'm no mathemetician, but wouldn't it take just 120 years (30 days multiplied by a 4 year interval) before our whole calendar backed up a full month? Of course, that means that the difference within the average person's lifetime would hardly be noticeable. Two, maybe three, weeks over the course of seventy-some years. But after three and a half centuries, school would start as winter moved in, and Washington DC's famous cherry blossoms would bloom closer to July 4th than April Fool's Day. Trick or Treaters would have plenty of daylight for making their rounds, and they wouldn't have to bundle up to keep out the fall chill.

It would take more like 700 years before people would start to associate Christmas with heat and humidity rather than frost and snow. (Would Santa have to trade in his red coat and hat for a summer suit? Could the reindeer handle the heat?) And how would fireworks look bursting in vibrant color over a snowy white landscape? People wouldn't give a second thought to trees shedding their leaves in April, and spring flowers blooming in October. Confused yet?

Such a shift would certainly do a lot for the public image of the dreary, cold winter months, not to mention the hot, steamy months at the peak of summer. Imagine a balmy, sun-filled day, perfect for spending an afternoon by the pool...in January! Or a blizzard that brought two feet of snow and freezing temperatures...in August. That might shut down the airports, but children (and teachers) would have to kiss their beloved snow days good-bye.

Letting time slide one day every four years might just do us all a bit of good. Shake us out of our daily routines, the false sense of security we get from the illusion of controlling time.

But until then, Happy Leap Day!