Carol Fisher-Linn
Remember Pink Floyd’s early 70’s song, “Time”; Jim Croce’s 79’s song, “If I Could Save Time in a Bottle”; or Cher’s late 80’s tune, “If I Could Turn Back Time” … which could take you back to the Beatles in 1965 with their hit “Yesterday”. It seems like time and its constancy and elusiveness gets a lot of attention. And rightly so; we all want to make the most of the time we have, right?
Benjamin Franklin was to have said, “Lost time is never found again.”. How well we know! Now the concept of daylight savings time (which has been around for hundreds of years) is often attributed to an essay Franklin wrote in 1784 when he jokingly proposed earlier wake-up time as a way for people to save money on candles. However, the folks at the Franklin Institute firmly inform us he wasn’t serious and had nothing to do with it. So, don’t blame old Ben!
Daylight Savings Time, as we call the moving of clocks ahead an hour during summertime when the days are naturally longer, was first introduced during World War I (1914-1918) as a way to save energy. So, we took an hour of daylight from the morning and tacked it onto the evening. The point was to use less electricity at night. By 1966 the Standard Time Act was finally passed and the custom became law. Somehow Arizona and Hawaii and several US Territories don’t observe DST. Why is that? Have you been to Arizona? This last Monday’s record-breaking high of 103 degrees marks the last triple-digit day of the month. Phoenix endured 21 consecutive days of scorching temperatures above 100 degrees, shattering records along the way. So, Arizona was exempted in 1968 from the national time change, thereby avoiding later sunsets during its seething summers. That additional hour of daylight would have meant energy consumption/cost of cooling an extra hour each day. Oh, yes, to further confuse Arizonians, and more particularly visitors to Arizona, if you visit the Navaho Nation within Arizona, it does observe DST. This writer spent several weeks in Arizona 18 months ago, and frankly, I didn’t know if I was on foot or horseback when I asked the time because if I asked an Arizonian it was one time, but if I asked a visitor from out east or Canada, I got another time, depending on whether they changed their watches or not. Hawaii enjoys equatorial proximity so there is little reason to change their clocks.
All that information leads up to the reminder that on Sunday, March 10, 2024, 2am clocks sprung forward in an instant. But now, the trees on the leaves are almost all gone and the weather is cooling down, signaling that it is almost time to fall back one hour and get on track with the new season and darker afternoons. This Sunday, November 3, 2024, at 2am clocks are turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, November 3, 2024, 1am local standard time instead. Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour earlier on Nov 3, 2024, than the day before. So, in keeping with the song title theme, “Morning Has Broken” will happen earlier, leaving us to deal with reduced light in the evening.
While you have the thought in your mind, why not put a note in your calendar, or on the counter, to switch over the clocks that won’t switch automatically. Best time is to do it right before going to bed on Saturday night rather than the next morning. If you go to bed 11ish, turn it to 10 and smile knowing you will get another hour of sleep. Your chances of missing church are pretty slim compared to the springtime switch where you might sleep right through it.
Put a reminder on your calendar to change over any clocks that don’t automatically make the switch. Many people find it helpful to change clocks right before bed rather than the next morning. While you’re making calendar updates, mark Sunday, March 9 for the start of DST in 2025. Then buckle down and grin and bear the longer, darker nights and enjoy the sunset colors you see on your drive home!