I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my feet the Sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch -
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience.

Emily Dickinson, c. 1864

Sunday, November 1, 2015

This time change business

Harvest moon from my front porch
While I was sitting in my favorite chair last Tuesday, I received a text from my neighbor to take a look at the rising full moon. She lives two doors down and so we spent some time together admiring the moon through the misty clouds. It's perfect for the season, the time of year when the days get short and the nights long. Although we are only halfway to the winter solstice, the sun will set tonight at 4:49pm here in Bellingham. We just went through our twice-yearly time change last night.
She found herself in a forest at night, with dark trees surrounding her. The light from the moon illuminated the path in front of her, and faintly in the distance she could see another light pulsating under a rock. As she made her way towards it in wonder, she recognized it as something vaguely familiar. Pulling it out to examine her find, a golden globe filled her hands. "There it is! My lost hour has come back to me!"
Just playing around with words here. I dreamt that little scene last night as I pondered this whole business of changing our clocks to "save time." Tacking an extra hour onto the morning in order to give us more light only robs it from the evening hours. Similar to taking a couple of inches from one end of the blanket and sewing it to the other end, don't you think? I'm all for leaving us in perpetual Daylight Saving Time instead of having four months on what is known as Standard Time. This idea of changing the clocks has been around since Germany first started it during World War I, in 1916. I found this fascinating page about the history of DST, if you want to know more about how different countries have come to use the time change. Apparently the idea has been around since Roman times. Who knew?

I have a harder time gaining that extra hour back than losing it in March. It throws my entire system off kilter, since I already get up early and go to bed early. Now my normal bedtime will occur ridiculously early (at 7:00 to 8:00pm), so I'll be forced to stay up past my bedtime and try really hard not to fall asleep in my chair. Of course this morning I awoke at my usual time of 5:00am, but it was suddenly only 4:00am! All of our radio-controlled clocks and computers, including my cellphone, had taken the change in stride, so after changing my wristwatch to the "correct" time, now everything is back in synch. Except my internal clock, that is.

This week I'll travel three hours ahead to East Coast time to visit my sister Norma Jean in Florida. We live on opposite ends of the United States, with her in the southeast corner, and me in the northwest corner. My travel day on Wednesday will have three fewer hours in it, which means I'll make up for one time change hour from today and only have to deal with two hours. But of course by then, three days from now, I'll just be getting used to the change. I noticed how much more easily my body is able to add hours to the day when traveling east to Europe, and how much harder it is to lose time when traveling west. Is it just me, or is everybody like that? I'm resisting the urge to research it on line so I can finish my post at a reasonable time. But then again, I have an extra hour to throw around before I get up. I'm smiling at the image of tossing that golden globe of an hour from hand to hand.

Let's see: what else is on my mind other than the time change? Well, there's the weather, of course. We've finally gone back to our normal weather pattern at this time of year, with fairly constant rain. Our hike on Thursday was cut short because of our inability to cross the swollen streams. Since we were hiking in rain most of the time, rather than try to find another place to continue our hike, we just decided to call it a day. Yesterday's walk with the ladies was wet, too, but we had a period of relatively dry weather in the middle of our walk and managed to walk more than four miles before we stopped. And now I can hear the rain drumming on the roof as I write this, so today will obviously be another wet one. I just checked to see what the weather will be like during my visit to Florida: I'll have to be content to have day after day in the sunshine. Sunny and warm!

And I will finally have a chance to meet my newest grand-niece Alicia, and get acquainted again with Lexie, who is now five and going to school. You know I will be taking plenty of pictures and will regale you with some of them in my post next Sunday. As much as I love them and look forward to my time in Florida, I am not looking forward to the travel. Two long days of it among the eight days I'll be gone from my usual routine. If all goes as planned, however, I'll be back to normal and able to join the Senior Trailblazers the following day, which is why I decided to return on Wednesday. I just need to stay healthy and not get a cold due to the close proximity to other travelers, many of whom are more than willing to share.

On that note, I would like to share with you with a video that I found on one of my regular blogs I follow. Other than the annoying (short) commercial at the beginning, this should make you smile. I've enjoyed it a couple of times and hope you will, too.



Until next Sunday, then, when I'll be in sunny Florida and writing from my sister's home, be well and safe and I'll try to do the same.

15 comments:

Linda Reeder said...

Fun video! And that ad for the Thing Charger isn't bad either.
I woke up way too early this morning with no reason to get up and get going. Thankfully you had already posted so I could at least check in for my Sunday morning inspiration.
It's getting light outside! I think I appreciate having light a bit sooner in the morning during this dark season, since the evenings are lost anyway. Adjusting in the spring is always harder for me.
There is a break in the storm and I see a golden edge to the big cloud in the east that has moved over us. I'll have to check weather underground to see what's coming next. We have a Sounders match at the stadium at 6:30 this evening. I would prefer for it to be just dark, and not a dark and stormy night.
BTW, well done on that bit of fiction writing!

Anonymous said...

The time remains the same in Hawaii, so I don't have your problem of adjusting to time change. Enjoy your trip to Florida.

Linda Myers said...

It was light when I woke up at 8. I can do longer evening darkness much better.

Safe journey to you this week!

Gigi said...

The time change - either way - never used to bother me, but the older I get the worse it messes me up. Like you, I found myself awake at 4:00 am and am already dragging. I fear it will be a very early night for me.

Loved that video! Thanks for sharing. I didn't see an ad though, lucky me.

Have a wonderful week, my friend!

Sandi said...

I know what you mean about the time change, except I always love the "getting an extra hour" that first morning! I used it to read an hour longer before going to sleep at my regular time! This morning, it was nice to wake up as usual, but snuggle back to sleep for a bit longer, just because I could.
The early dark will bother me a bit, but earlier light I like better. I have a lot more trouble with the actual daylight savings time switch. I wish it would just stay on one place!

Elephant's Child said...

I am not a fan of daylight saving. We moved forward quite a while ago, and will not move back till a month or so after we 'should have'.
I prefer my daylight in the morning - but it is a personal preference.
Have a wonderful visit with your sister.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I like my daylight in the evening! November is usually dark and dreary here anyway...so it really messes up my body...and Chance doesn't know what to do when....he will want me cooking at four which is really five in his dog brain. We have a few old clocks that we needed to set, I think they are all set now. I don't understand why we have to switch either, one of these years I will just not do it and just convert the times for appointments. That ought to drive those who call and remind us of appointments nuts...my time or your time...HA!
I hope you are taking your Vitamin C and carry a mask with you and some antiseptic wipes for the plane ride. Have a wonderful time! Travel safely! :)

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

I used to love the extra hour in the fall, and hate the lost hour in spring. Meanwhile I can usually travel west much more easily than east. But the older I get the more difficult everything is, so I do just wish we'd stay on DST all year.

Hooray! It's 5:15 p.m. and nearly dark out! Said nobody, ever.

Red said...

Sometimes adjusting to the time change is a pain and sometimes I don't notice it. I would be happier if there was no change. It doesn't make any difference to me. Enjoy your trip.

The Furry Gnome said...

Have a great trip!

Rita said...

I have always been annoyed by DST and even more so the older I get. Takes a while to adjust every time.
Enjoy your trip!! So excited for you!! :)

Anonymous said...

Nice to enjoy beautiful things...

Bill said...

Yep. I lay in bed awake for nearly an hour this morning. Apparently my body clock didn't get the memo about the time change. Neither did our rooster.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

This time change caught me completely off guard. I thought it was this weekend. I'm all for leaving daylight savings in place!

John's Island said...

Hi DJan, After reading this week’s post I thought to myself … I’ve got to go back and check out some of the posts in the archives of Eye on the Edge. Well, I enjoy your write ups quite a lot. And, this week is so “timely”, if I may use that word. :-) Thank you for the link to the History of DST. I read the whole article, and, despite the fact that I thought I was well informed about DST, I did learn several new aspects to it. To think that way back someone had the idea of adjusting the clocks for TWO hours of DST … My goodness sakes … Things are not as bad as they could be. Right now, I do not like the fact that Washington is a part of the DST shift. I don’t think it makes sense for a state in northern latitudes to shift time so there is more daylight in evening hours. There is already plenty thanks to nature alone. For example, on June 21 in Seattle there is 15:59 of daylight and the sunset is at 8:11 PM Standard Time, but with the clocks adjusted for DST it is 9:11. Well, I could go on with this, but we are in agreement … we don’t need DST. Getting back to your post … I see that you are leaving tomorrow for Florida to visit your sister. Wishing you a safe and fun journey. Take care and be well!