Daylight Savings Time
Daydreaming about how I could best use the extra hour of daylight each day that will be afforded to me by this month’s onset of Daylight Saving Time—which we will first enjoy on Sunday the 10th—has occupied
me for well over an hour this morning, an hour I could have spent utilizing the current amount of daylight in... a way that I haven’t quite thought of yet.
In a world fixated on the fictional and theoretical possibilities granted by time travel, our cultural tinkering with the clocks is about the closest we can come to hitting pause on the DVR for our daily lives. Even though we’re really just jumping forward and back during the wee hours of the morning twice per year, opinion is mixed, generally, as to which particular quantum leap people enjoy more (when it’s about time to “fall back” people seem thrilled to get the extra hour of sleep, yet when it’s time to “spring forward” the extra hour of sunlight is the raison d’être).
Originally kicked off in 1918 (Happy 101st birthday Daylight Saving Time!) as a wartime conservation effort to preserve gas and electricity used on lighting, DST came about at a time when people didn’t have the self-illuminating technological gadgetry we do now, and extra daylight meant more time for visible entertainment outside instead of staying inside wasting energy. In 2019, what it really means is that the world of the outdoors is more available to us once we get done with work than it is during the colder months, when it can sometimes be dark as you leave the house and dark again by the time you’re home. Outdoor projector users, fans of patio lights, lovers of the early evening moonlight serenade, and stargazers lament! This time of year is not for you. In exchange, there’s more time to enjoy a family picnic, go for an evening swim, or do some of that yard work and outdoor maintenance you’ve been putting off for the last month or two.
Despite losing the hour, an informal poll of the office reveals that more of us are excited about
the impending change than not. Some report not getting tired as easily in the evening owing to the extra light, having more time to go for a well-lit jog, being more inclined to swing by the store or run some errands after work, and generally feeling like it’s finally time to start getting into the spring and summer spirit after a long, dark winter. This all sounds fine.
But if like me you started this article unsure of what exactly you’re going to start doing to make this new found hour of extra sunlight count each day, fear not—it isn’t too late. By my estimation, you’ve got about 55 minutes left.
