Saving Time?

Sunset over Lake Wissota, Wisconsin.
2/11/2018 dwm photo

  If you set your clock ahead before going to bed last night, you should be on schedule today and maybe a little tired.

 Since it seems the first couple weeks of Daylight Savings Time (DST) is spent in a slumber-deprived haze, it seems were spending a lot of energy trying to make the adjustment.

 Most clocks around the house spring ahead on their own at 2 AM local time, which means I don't get to move the hands of time while housemates aren't paying close attention.

In the basement, I can adjust clocks on the wall and water softener, but the ones on the oven have to wait.

The idea behind Daylight Savings Time is to move more daylight to the end of day instead of while most are in bed. 

Today for example the sun rose at 7:12 instead of 6:14 like it did yesterday and the sun put off setting from 6:00 to 7:01 PM.  

As I've aged, it is more likely that sunlight stirs me from sleep, especially in the summer.  June 21 under DST sees the sun rise at 5:18 with daylight visible nearly 45 minutes before that, so in a standard time zone, the sun would come up at 4:18 and twilight around 3:30!  No, thank you.

When summer begins, sunset is 8:40 in Madison with light lingering close to 9:30.  It's the same 15 hours, 22 minutes - just moved a little.

A lot of folks complain about the adjustment, some want permanent Daylight Savings.  My argument against is that in places like Indianapolis (and areas approximately the same distance north of the equator) which is on the west edge of a time zones moving daylight later in the day would mean wouldn't see the January sun rise until nearly 9!

Twice each year, for a day or week, the time change gives us something to discuss and remind us to change the batteries in our smoke detectors.