This month is one of those rare times when there are 29 days in February instead of 28. A leap in time when the calendar is adjusted to make up for extra seconds accrued over the preceding three years due to the rotation of the earth. Given it’s also Valentine’s month, we have to ask: Will you or won’t you? Should you or shouldn’t you?
According to an old Irish legend, St. Brigid struck a deal with St. Patrick to allow women to propose to men — and not just the other way around — every four years.
To help you make the leap— be it love or business — here are our choices for shopping, dining and entertainment to make you feel all warm and lovey-dovey:
3 Leap at the chance to see some of the 43 films at the Jewish Film Festival playing at the JCC’s Wolf Theatre, Feb. 5-19. Featured films include 16 Denver and six Colorado premieres. Information: 303-316-6360.
3 You’ll love the Colorado Ballet Auxiliary gala with dinner and an excerpt from Peter Pan at The Ellie Feb. 6, 5-11 p.m. Information: 303-339-1640.
3 Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Denver Botanic Gardens’ annual Love Potions from the Vine tour Feb. 7-9 & 13-15. Information: 720-865-3500.
3 Just for laughs, take your love to see stand-up comedian Phil Hanley perform at Comedy Works Feb. 13-16. Information: 303-595-3637.
3 Experience a leap in time at Mad Peaches Med Spa. Their skin care treatment solutions can help reverse the effects of stress, genetics and lifestyle choices. For a complimentary consultation: 303-474-4436.
3 No matter how you slice-dice it, food and love are inseparably tied. Enjoy Valentine’s Day at Glendale’s Jax Fish House Feb. 14, starting at 3 p.m. Happy hour to 6 p.m., raw bar menu all night. Information: 303-756-6449.
3 Jazz up leap year to jazz group Halo-Halo fronted by soprano Caitlin Gilmore at the Tuft Theater Feb. 22, 8 p.m. Information: 303-777-1003.
3 Launch your leap year garden at the Colorado Garden & Home Show at the Convention Center Feb. 22-March 1. Information: 303-932-8100.
3 The epic and poetic nature of music and lyrics always seems to conjure up feelings of romantic emotion. The Colorado Symphony plays the most romantic music in the orchestral repertoire at Boettcher Concert Hall, Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. Titled A Symphonic Valentine, the evening features soprano Laquita Mitchell who brings her rich, expressive vocal to works from Schicchi and Tchaikovsky’s ballets. Information: 303-623-7876.
Every four years, thanks to a quirk of the earth’s orbit and the combined efforts of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and 16th-century Pope Gregory XIII of Gregorian Calendar fame, we must add an extra day at the end of February to create a leap year. Without the extra day every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year.
Use the extra day to do something daring, extraordinary and dissimilar from what you usually do. Take a chance and shape an adventurous, distinctively different day.
A German proverb predicts that leap years will be cold. This month between two and nine-inches of snow falls in Denver in half the years. The Old Farmer’s Almanac sums it up thusly: “New snow and blue toes. Fine and dandy for Valentine candy. Snow spittin’; if you’re not mitten-smitten, you’ll be frostbitten! By jing-y feels spring-y.”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
