Monday, 3/11

Once again, some of us are obviously separated by denominational differences.

I guess I didn't realize it, but there's a sizable contingent of people out there who are opposed to Daylight Savings Time, at least based on what I've seen on social media once we switched our clocks ahead yesterday morning. There are people out there who don't like the jet lag associated with it, there are parents out there who don't like how it affects their kids, and there are people out there who are just philosophically opposed to it because we're no longer a nation of farmers.

So, of course, I have to be one of the people who actually LIKES Daylight Savings Time. But you wouldn't expect any less from me, right?

The reason I like Daylight Savings Time is probably the reason others don't. Because of my schedule and my lifestyle, I like it darker in the morning and lighter late at night. During the summer, if it's light until 10 pm...great. It means I can play outside when I get off of work. But if we didn't have DST, it'd be getting dark an hour earlier, which means that, if I had to work late, I couldn't enjoy an extra hour of evening. And if we didn't have Daylight Savings Time, the sun would start coming up, at least here in the U.P., before 5 in the morning, which means that around half of my sleep cycle would be disrupted.

And that, on a purely personal level, would suck.

But if wouldn't be as bad as it would be for our friends 60 miles from here. If we didn't have Daylight Savings Time, during the summer the sun would start coming up in Dickinson County, which is in the Central Time Zone, between 3:45 and four AM.

That's right. Without Daylight Savings Time, during June the sun would rise in Dickinson County at 4am. In what world is THAT right?

Now like I said, the reasons I like Daylight Savings Time are purely personal. I'm probably in the minority, at least based on the vociferous complaints I saw over the weekend. And I realize that because we're quite far north and because we're right on the edge of a time zone, that not having Daylight Savings Time would lead to us having to deal with amazing sunrise and sunset extremes. But still...

Who wouldn't rather have the sun set later at night instead of at (gulp) five (or even four) in the morning?

To quote a coffee mug I have somewhere...it's hard not being a morning person.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)