Don’t get me wrong. I like the longer sunlight in the evenings as much as the next person. What I don’t like are those first few wake-up alarms when my body screams at me, “WHY are we getting up at 4:30 a.m.?”
This morning on my nearly dark walk at 6 a.m. with Baby Dog, I kept thinking, “this is going to be 7 a.m. in a couple of days.” I’m going to have to wake the chickens up to feed them in the mornings. Again. Just as I’m starting to notice the barest hint of dawn in the east, I will be getting up an hour earlier and reverting to walks in utter darkness.
Arizona and Hawaii don’t change to daylight saving time. Neither do Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lots of countries don’t change either, though most of them are around the equator where the hours of daylight don’t vary much. At latest count, 159 countries do not observe the annual time flip-flop and 82 countries do.
Hawaii falls into the tropical camp of non-changers. Arizona, apparently, doesn’t like it because it’s so hot there that people don’t do much outside until after dark, and the last thing they want is more daylight in the evenings.
The time change only started in WWI, so it’s hardly a tradition of very long standing. The original idea was that the switch saved energy, but from what I’ve heard that idea is controversial and the savings are something like a mere 1% of electrical consumption. There’s little argument about people preferring longer daylight in the evenings, though.
Still, I am not looking forward to Monday morning. Or Tuesday. And probably not Wednesday either.
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7 comments:
Agreed, Carolyn. The sky's starting to lighten as I get up in the morning now, but not for long. It will be nice to be able to go for walks after work, though; I turn into a slug in the winter.
Maybe Arizona just likes to be contrary and anti-federalist, like it does for everything else. Also, did you know that there are counties in Indiana along the time zone boundary that haven't adopted Daylight Savings Time; how's that for confusing?
Dood. 1. YES, re: chickens. That will be great, and I'd not thought of that. lately I stagger into the kitchen and there they are, in the coop, PACING to get fed treats and let into their runs. When I can only reach for coffee w/o great risk of falling down. =)
2. I hear you, and w/o being aware of it, I booked an EARLY FLIGHT for tomorrow that takes off 1.75 hrs from my house. ON THE FIRST DAY OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!! OUCH. Gonna get up at bed time, practically.
3. I know, I'm lucky to travel, etc. =)
4. In grad school in "Fall back" I was SO PSYCHED for that 1 extra hour to study, it was my favorite day. Good luck adapting!!
I hate springing forward, too.
Was very interested in your struggles with the raccoons, and the coyote urine!
I have been following your blog on and off for several years... love your photographs. I don't live too far from you. Just over the border , south of Gettysburg, in the Catoctin mountains of Maryland.
Best wishes from Anne
Scott: Maybe we should just stay on DST all year long. I'd be okay with that.
Biobabbler: Thanks for stopping by! FYI, coyote urine does not work on my raccoons--probably not enough coyotes around here for raccoons to have the needed respect for the urine.
Anne: Thanks for taking the time to comment! The coyote urine didn't work, unfortunately. I'll have an update on that story tomorrow.
I'm not a fan of DST. Years of trouble with insomnia have taught me that I really need the extra hour of nighttime at....you know....NIGHT, to nudge my brain into realizing that it's bedtime.
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