Another Way of Defining the Year

Today is a special day. No, it’s not a famous holiday. It may be someone or something’s birthday or anniversary, but not within anyone I know or anything I appreciate.

Today is actually the 100^th day of the year. That means, from all the way back to when I introduced myself on this site to today, 100 days in 2026 have passed. This counts for the entirety of the first quarter of the year and everything that happened within it. They include New Year’s Day, Groundhog’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, April Fools, Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, and finally, today. This also includes the Winter Olympics and Pokémon’s 30^th Anniversary, as well as when the new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out.

So what is today’s entry about? Well, it’s about how to divide the year into eras. As discussed earlier in the year, you can divide a year into different seasons, whether it be four three-month periods called “quarters”, or three four-month periods called “thirds”. Here’s another way you can look at it. This is the Days Passed perspective, and it’s about how many days there are left in the year, and how many days have passed.

So what system is more popular? The Metric System, of course. Nearly every measurement in the Metric System uses the Base-10 format. Length is Base-10, Mass is Base-10, Volume is Base-10, Area is Base-10, Pressure is Base-10, and Force is Base-10. Temperature is based on the temperature of water, from 0°C (when the water freezes) to 100°C (when the water boils). There’s only one form of measurement that doesn’t follow the Base-10 format, and that is time. By using the Earth’s orbit and the rotation of the Earth, given that each hour is 3,600 seconds, each days is 24 hours long, and each year is 365 days (366 during the leap years). Sadly, it’s not divisible by 10 or 100. If you divide the year by 100, you will get 3 with a remainder of 65. But what side of the coin are you using? Heads, or Tails? If you want it both ways, there are actually seven different periods along the year, each of them are defined by how many days are left and how many days have passed.

And by the way, did you know that the planet Coruscant (one of the prequel planets in Star Wars) also has 24-hour days and 365-day years? Not that it’s related to today’s topic, but I wanted to point that out.

The Seven “Days Passed” Periods:

The seven different Days Passed periods in the year are:

• Early Year
• Rising Days
• Spring Weeks
• Middle Year
• Summer Weeks
• Falling Days
• Late Year

And they are defined by how many days are left (in increments of 100) and how many days have passed (also in increments of 100). Right now, it is January 7^th, which is within the first 100 days, the first 200 days, and the first 300 days. But it’s not within the last 300 days. Here’s how each year is defined:

• The Early Year runs from January 1^st to March 6^th, whether it’s a common year or a leap year. Much of the year is part of the last 300 days of the year, but none of days during this period are part of it. The entirety of both January and February are part of this period.
• The Rising Days runs from March 7^th to April 10^th (March 7^th to April 9^th during the leap year). Enough time has passed to where the year is within the last 300 days, but it’s still within the first 100 days. The 100^th day of the year is April 10^th (or April 9^th during the leap year). Once the day passes, this 35-day period (or 34-day period during the leap year) is over, which leads to…
• The Spring Weeks runs from April 11^th to June 14^th (Aprill 10^th to June 14^th during the leap year). The first 100 days of the year are over, but the last 200 days of the year have yet to start. In regards to the school year, this is where it comes to an end, and when summer vacation starts.
• The Middle Year runs from June 15^th to July 19^th (June 15^th to July 18^th during the leap year). The last 200 days have started, while the first 200 days hasn’t ended yet. It ends on the 200^th day of the year, while containing both Canada Day and Independence Day.
• The Summer Weeks runs from July 20^th to September 22^nd (July 19^th to September 22^nd during the leap year). The first 200 days of the year are over, but the last 100 days of the year have yet to start. Despite the name, this is more of the late summer, for both Summer Vacation and Summer in general.
• The Falling Days runs from September 23^rd to October 27^th (September 23^rd to October 26^th during the leap year). The year is now within the last 100 days, showing that it’s coming to an end. But this 35-day period (34-day period during the leap year) is still within the first 300 days, which the majority of the year is part of.
• The Late Year runs from October 28^th to December 31^st (October 27^th to December 31^st during the leap year), which is after the first 300 days. The entirety of November and December, along with Spooky Day, is part of this period, further proving how late Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are observed in the year.

Just giving you a reminder of what day it is in the year for the holidays, sampling ten different holidays:

• New Year’s Day is the 1^st day of the year.
• Valentine’s Day is the 45^th day of the year.
• This year, Mardi Gras is the 48^th day of the year.
• St. Patrick’s Day is the 76^th day of the year.
• This year, Easter is the 95^th day of the year.
• Independence Day is the 185^th day of the year. It’ll always be the 4^th day of July. The one this year should be America’s 250^th birthday.
• Halloween is the 304^th day of the year.
• This year, Thanksgiving is the 330^th day of the year.
• Christmas is the 359^th day of the year.
• New Year’s Eve is the 365^th day of the year.

Going backwards, here’s how far they are from the end:

• New Year’s Day is 364 days away from the end.
• Valentine’s Day is 320 days away from the end.
• This year, Mardi Gras is 317 days away from the end.
• St. Patrick’s Day is 289 days away from the end.
• This year, Easter is 270 days away from the end.
• Independence Day is 180 days away from the end.
• Halloween is 61 days away from the end.
• Thanksgiving is 35 days away from the end.
• Christmas is 6 days away from the end.
• New Year’s Eve is at the end.

Using these facts, like mentioned earlier, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter are all within the first 100 days of the year. But the latter two holidays are within the last 300 days while the former three are not. Meanwhile, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are not only within the last 100 days, but they aren’t even within the first 300 days. While Independence Day is within both the first 200 and last 200 days of the year. America’s 250^th birthday is just between the first 200 days and last 200 days of 2026 only.

Focusing on the Easter season, Mardi Gras is exactly 47 days before Easter, no matter what year it is. If Mardi Gras is within the second period, then Easter is definitely within the third period. If Easter is within the second period, then Mardi Gras is definitely within the first period. But it’s possible for Mardi Gras to be within the first period while Easter is within the third period. In these years, Easter will land between April 11^th to April 22^nd. Meanwhile, Mardi Gras will land between February 23^rd to March 6^th. Now even though Thanksgiving isn’t on a fixed date, the fact it’s always in November is why it’s within the seventh period regardless.

100-Day Periods within four years:

If I decided to take this even further, there will be 15 different periods of 100 days within a span of four years, starting with the first year after the leap year. Here will be the full ranges:

• Period 1 – January 1^st (Y1) to April 10^th (Y1)
• Period 2 – April 11^th (Y1) to July 19^th (Y1)
• Period 3 – July 20^th (Y1) to October 27^th (Y1)
• Period 4 – October 28^th (Y1) to February 4^th (Y2)
• Period 5 – February 5^th (Y2) to May 15^th (Y2)
• Period 6 – May 16^th (Y2) to August 23^rd (Y2)
• Period 7 – August 24^th (Y2) to December 1^st (Y2)
• Period 8 – December 2^nd (Y2) to March 11^th (Y3)
• Period 9 – March 12^th (Y3) to June 19^th (Y3)
• Period 10 – June 20^th (Y3) to September 27^th (Y3)
• Period 11 – September 28^th (Y3) to January 5^th (Y4)
• Period 12 – January 6^th (Y4) to April 14^th (Y4)
• Period 13 – April 15^th (Y4) to July 23^rd (Y4)
• Period 14 – July 24^th (Y4) to October 3^st (Y4)
• Period 15 – November 1^st (Y4) to December 31^st (Y4)

For just 2026 alone, we’re on our way out of the first period. But if we’re taking the current four years into consideration (2025 to 2028), we are only in the fifth period, on the 65^th day.

Well, that’s all for today. Tomorrow begins the second 100 days of the year.