I can't say that I don't look forward to having more sunshine in the day, but I can say I absolutely miss the lost hour for many weeks once it is snatched from us in the night.
And I can't say that I do not enjoy the early darkened evenings in the fall as I get to sleep much earlier with no distractions working in my yard, but I do become tired of the lack of time in the day very quickly.
And I can say that when we were visiting in Arizona I found out that state did not participate in Daylight Savings Time and had never been told this was an option.
I'm guessing if we had no Daylight Savings Time we would just naturally have longer days in the summer and shorter days in the winter but not as drastic of a shift. The earth tilts on its axis toward the sun and away from the sun if my grade school science lessons are returning to me correctly.
So, why did we decide to play with Father Time?
Looking it up this weekend I read that many believe Benjamin Franklin first came up with the thought. It is also believed that the concept was adopted in order for farmers to have more hours of sunlight to work in the field. That doesn't explain much for the fall harvest or mid-winter harvest.
It seems the idea was first introduced in Germany in 1916 during World War I as an energy saving measure. (Of course the Germans.) It was not long before the United States followed along adopting this idea in 1918. This was meant to be a wartime measure and was repeated the next year. (Sounding much like those temporary income taxes society was once introduced to.)
But, I digress. This concept was reinstituted in 1942 during World War II, and the next couple of decades were recorded as a free-for-all. States and designated areas switched from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time at will. Congress then passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966. This standardized daylight saving time and its start and end dates across the country. However, Hawaii and Arizona opted to keep standard time year-round. Still wondering what made them special.
So, a little over a year before I entered into this world such a time shift was introduced and hence that moment of my birth I would never be on time anywhere throughout. I do not stand alone as one who has a very difficult time with time management, so to tinker with it twice a year truly sends those of us in a constantly recycled frenzy. Before automobiles and cell phones automatically adjusted this overnight shift, I would go an entire winter letting the time remain an hour off in my car and on my oven. And then as all moms do in setting every clock 10 minutes ahead to help keep their children punctual when mom is not, my clock would be an hour and 10 minutes off or 50 minutes off however that worked out.
If you are now confused, you are experiencing the confusion those of us who are already challenged by time go through when these time changes occur. Once the clocks all get into aligned times something in the brain remains off. There seems to be a piece of time missing and it can't be found when the yawns start at 5:00 pm or the tossing and turning begins at 10:00 pm. And the sun that should be shining when the alarm buzzes is nowhere to be found so the sleepy subconscious hits snooze until even snooze gives up and stops firing off.
I am writing this with my second cup of coffee as I contemplate moving to Arizona.
