Leap from Cache to Cache #1 Traditional Cache
Leap from Cache to Cache #1
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Sadie Hawkins or Leap Year Day?
Did you think February 29th was Sadie Hawkins Day? If so you might
be suprised to find out that February 29th is just Leap Year Day.
Sadie Hawkins Day is November 15th.
Sadie
Hawkins Day, an American folk event, made its debut in Al
Capp's Li'l Abner strip November 15, 1937. Sadie Hawkins was "the
homeliest gal in the hills" who grew tired of waiting for the
fellows to come a courtin'. Her father, Hekzebiah Hawkins, a
prominent resident of Dogpatch, was even more worried about Sadie
living at home for the rest of his life, so he decreed the first
annual Sadie Hawkins Day, a foot race in which the unmarried gals
pursued the town's bachelors, with matrimony the consequence.
By the late 1930's the event had swept the nation and had a life of
its own. Life magazine reported over 200 colleges holding Sadie
Hawkins Day events in 1939, only two years after its inception. It
became a woman empowering rite at high schools and college
campuses, long before the modern feminist movement gained
prominence.
The basis of Sadie Hawkins Day is that women and girls take the
initiative in inviting the man or boy of their choice out on a
date, typically to a dance attended by other bachelors and their
aggressive dates. When Al Capp created the event, it was not his
intention to have the event occur annually on a specific date
because it inhibited his freewheeling plotting. However, due to its
enormous popularity and the numerous fan letters Capp received, the
event became an annual event in the strip during the month of
November, lasting four decades.
I did find, one source that
mentioned that in 1288, the Parliament of Scotland legislated that
any woman could propose to a man in Leap Year. If refused, the man
had to compensate her by one pound. This law was adopted in France,
Switzerland and Italy, and the tradition was carried to America,
Australia and other countries. These days it is often said that
Leap Year Day is the time that women may legitimately propose to
men, while some people hold that the whole of a Leap Year is
suitable.
You can read more about the beginnings of Sadie Hawkins day and see
the original comic strip at: here
here and,
yes here!
Did you know the quadrennial event compensates for the fact that a
solar year is 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes? If you do not believe
it, just look here and you guessed
it, here! Most
years that can be divided evenly by 4 are leap years. The exception
are century years are not leap years unless they can be evenly
divided by 400. That means that the year 2000 was a leap year and
the next time a century will be a leap year is the year 2400!
Ever found a cache on Leap Year Day?
Have you ever found a cache on February 29th, Leap Year Day?
Selective
Availability was turned off on at midnight on May 1, 2000 ( a
Leap Year ). Two days later, on May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer placed the
first “Stash”, and Geocaching was born. Click
here for details. This means that the ability to find a cache
on February 29th has happened only once ( in 1994 ) in the 10 to 15
billion year old history of the galaxy. If you are unlike Dosido,
and joined after 2/29/2004, 2008 is your first opportunity to find
and log a cache on Leap Year Day, February 29th.
There is nothing special about these caches and we are placing the
caches in advance of Leap Year Day February 29th, so all can see,
and you are free to find and log the caches as soon as they are
released. However, as Hekzebiah Hawkins might say "Ah declares al’
O' yo' kin start a-runnin' for th' cachie when it's dun posted. ...
but if'n yo' kin wate 'till Friday 2/29..."
The Dilemma
The real dilemma is can you wait? While they are not "night
caches", they can, of course, be found at night. Team Dilemma, Team
F+F and TandL will be gathering at N 42° 11.458 W 072° 16.286 at
8:00 PM EST on Friday night 2/29/2008 for the first of what might
just become a nocturnal, quadrennial caching event, night caching,
allowing cachers to log a cache on Leap Year Day. All cachers are
welcome to join us.
Rain
date will be 2/29/2012.
From cache 1 and 2 we will proceed to cache 3
placed by TandL and from there, who knows. Please place a note in
cache 1 if you intend to join us on the first “Leap from Cache to
Cache – Not Sadie Hawkins Day, Nocturnal, Quadrennial Event”
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)