As I mentioned in Sunday’s post, we have the gift of extra time this week, a whole day in fact. So we should be leaping for joy at this not-really-unexpected freebie which comes around once every four years. We should do something with it for sure. Learn something, live a little – do something we have been thinking of doing but putting it off (start it at the least), literally leap a little (after all, it is leap day), spread some extra kindness and love around, laugh, take a risk, whatever, just do it!

And what is it with the ‘snow moon’ in my title? Well, I am sure many of you seen the gorgeous snow moon pics all over. I missed taking pics of the moon this time around (one of my favorite things to do usually) but I did get a few other cool pics this past week that I am sharing later in this post.

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Learning With and Leaping for Joy

A Little About the Word ‘Leap’

The word ‘leap’ comes from the Middle English word lepen –> Old English hlēapan –>  Proto-Germanic hlaupan (all essentially meaning ‘to jump up; run, go’). (source)

As a noun, it can mean a spring, jump, or bound; a sudden or abrupt transition (a leap in stock prices). And as a verb, of course, it means to jump, to spring through the air from one point or position to another. (source)

Leaping to Wordly Connections

The word ‘leap’ has connections to elope, gallop, interlope, and even loop. They are all doublets of each other, meaning they have the same etymological root!!

Learn About Leap Day and Leap Years!

Fun Facts About the Leap Day and Leap Year

A leap year is also called a bissextile or intercalary year. Intercalating means ‘inserted in a calendar!’

We all know that leap years are any year that can be exactly divided by 4 (such as 2020, 2024, 2028, etc). But did you know that years that can be exactly divided by 100 are not always leaps years (like 2100, 2200, 2300, etc) unless if they can also be exactly divided by 400 (like 2000 and 2400). (source)

If you are born on February 29, you are known as a Leapling or Leaper. (source)

More Fun so You Can LOL on Leap Day

Leap for Joy and Take a Leap of Faith or a Leap in the Dark or…

‘Leap’ finds itself in many idioms and phrases. Most likely, we have all asked someone to or have been asked to ‘take a leap of faith’ at one point or the other. Here are a few more for you, starting with the familiar and already mentioned ones

• leap for joy
• take a leap of faith
• by leaps and bounds
• leap off the dark end
• a leap in the dark
• leap on the bandwagon
• quantum leap

‘Leap’ing Books

A collection of books for you to do with ‘leap’ in one way or the other.

1. Leap Year: How small steps can make a giant difference by Helen Russell (Self-help). A book about how to make big decisions, be more resilient, and change your life for good. I am finding it so very useful and will share some of the wisdom here soon.
2. Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson with illustrations by Matthew Cordell (Picture Books | 1 – 5 years, and up). An adorable book about family bonds and taking a leap of faith, literally!
3. The Kangaroo Who Couldn’t Stop by Robert Cox and Jim Robins (Picture Books | 3 – 5 years, and up). From worrying about taking that first leap to being unable to stop!! This book is another one about a mom and a child, where the issue is that the little one just can’t stop leaping.
4. Mommy, Where’s My Birthday? by Lakisha Cornell (Picture Books | ) . Help for parents with leaplings is here. How do you tell a child born on Feb. 29 that his birthday is only on the calendar once every four years? This book helps answers this prickly question.
5. The Leap Year Book by Barbara Sutton-Smith (Picture Books | Trivia | All ages). A book filled with leap year trivia that is sure to delight everyone.
6. Leap! by JonArno Lawson with art by Josée Bisaillon (Children’s Picture Books | 3 – 7 years).
7. Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan (Children’s Nonfiction | 4 – 8 years, and up). This book won the Cybils award for elementary nonfiction this year, and all of us judges loved it unanimously!
8. Leap’s Day: February 29 by Stephanie Bee Simmons (Picture Books | ). A cute about that helps review calendar skills and opens up discussions of leap day and leap year.
9. Your Big Leap Year: A Year to Manifest Your Next-Level Life…Starting Today! by PH.D. Hendricks, Gay (Self-help). I have read some of this author’s work before (his earlier book) and hence had to add this one to my reading list today. In this book, Hendricks guides us through the steps on how to take the big leap – one little leap a day.
10. One Giant Leap by Thao Lam (Picture Books | 3 – 7 years). A delightful wordless picture book from one of my favorite author-illustrators! Makes for a great gift.
11. Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker (Romance) 
12. Once Upon a Leap Year by Anna Bell (Romance) 
13. Leap Day by Wendy Mass (Teen and YA Fiction). Wendy Mass’s books are always a great read, and this novel that tells the story of soon-to-be-16 Josie Taylor, who was born on Leap Day, is no different.

Some Leaping Movie Fun

You can watch this inspiring and sweet animated movie titled simply Leap! if you haven’t already. Or Amy Adam’s Leap Year. Do you have any recommendations for me?

A Grook for a Leap Day from the Past

I wrote this grook poem a few years ago, a couple of leap years ago actually.

Time Conundrum
Amazing how time zooms by
like a ball downhill
When engrossed in what thrills
But it can also stand utterly still
Totally so
When what you are doing is a chore.
-@LadyInRead

Are You a Leapling? Then Check this Out

Join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, or attend the celebrations in the twin towns of Anthony in Texas and New Mexico (the same town straddles the borders of both states)

More Leaping Fun

A poem for dVerse’s Poetics prompt. You can choose to use one or all three of the options. a) use the word or concept of leaping in your poem; b) use a random word generator (like magneticpoetry) to inspire you; c) Use this image (a goldfish leaping) and write an ekphrastic poem to it.

So I used this random word generator online to give me 5 random words, and I got – eaux / crown / miss / rear / snake. Here is my poem using all three options for the Poetics Prompt and am linking it at Open Link Night instead (for seems like I missed the Poetics linkup)

A Glimmering Leap of Faith
Have you ever heard a goldfish giggle?
I have, in that moment when, with a wiggle,
A twist, and a mighty leap,
She took her chance, her own to keep.
To that fortress of glass, she bid adieu.

From that eaux where ripples crown
From those depths, she dared to miss,
The confines of her glassy abyss.
Rearing herself on her fin
Finding courage somewhere within
With a snake-like grace in her flight,
She leapt through the veil of water and light.

There, in that moment, she reigned supreme
There, in that moment, I heard her grin!
With each twist, each flick, she defied
The boundaries that confine her skies

In her leap, a declaration clear,
That even in captivity, freedom’s near!
And in this moment, when she took her chance,
That goldfish – she taught me how to dance.
~ Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

And I leaped for joy when I saw this

This is one of the pics I promised instead of the snow moon. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you will know what this is. While not an actual entrance to the wizarding world, the door pays homage to the book and film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (source). Pic taken by me.

Last but not the least

Joining in on Wednesday Hodgepodge a day late as almost always .

1. February is coming to a close. Give us a two-word phrase that tells us something about how yours went.

Totally hodgepodge!

2. If you had to describe how you’re feeling right now as an amusement park ride, what ride are you on? Explain. 

Not a ride, but feel like a bumper car that is stuck and being bumped into from all sides (but kind of slightly enjoying it too while not having fun – do you know what i mean?)

3. What’s something on your desk or a nearby wall that cheers you up when you see it or walk past? 

Paintings made by my kids and gifted to me for Mother’s Day. My daughter hand painted hers while my son used a digital painting software to create a beautiful scene and got it printed for me (both of them did it in secret, two separate mother’s days)

4.  Are you a salad eater? How many salads do you typically eat in a week? Your favorite kind of salad? 

While I love salads of different types, there is no set routine for eating them during the week. My favorite kind: the kale salad kit from Costco might be one.

5. Without telling us the category give us your top five ______________. 

Brown Girl In The Ring
Daddy Cool
Ma Baker
Rasputin
Rivers Of Babylon

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Wishing leaplings everywhere a happy birthday!

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, hope you had fun reading this. Let me know what appealed to you the most, and if you were reminded of something else with this post.

And joining in on Thursday 13 where you can post any random thirteen things on your blog, or elsewhere!