Tick Tock - Fall Back

Tis that time of year again when we reset our clocks back an hour... everyone loves that one night of getting an extra hour of sleep... but no one likes how dark it is in the morning before work/school, and how early it gets dark in the evening.  The days are getting shorter everyday anyway, which doesn't help when the time changes... but on December 22nd the days start to get longer everyday up until June 21st when the days once again begin to get shorter... tis the cycle of life.

My husband leaves for work every morning no later than 6:30 am... rarely does he make it home from work before 6:30 pm... and on many nights he doesn't get home until 7:00 pm or after.  These months of short days and early darkness make it hard for him to actually witness daylight during the week.  My personal body clock begins to slow down in October... making me feel tired in the afternoon between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, and then I get my 2nd wind and am fine until bedtime.  After all the holidays have passed, my body clock seems to readjust itself and I no longer feel the need for a nap in the afternoon.  With the days being shorter and the days dark so early, Joe and I struggle to stay up until 9:00 pm.  Most of our family members know Joe and I pretty much go to bed with the chickens as it is... but come Fall... we find ourselves ready for bed soon as it gets dark.

Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states who do not change their clocks for the seasons, and up until 2006 (when Indiana finally changed to Daylight Savings time State wide) only parts of Indiana changed.  So depending on the county lines... you and your neighbor could have an hour difference for 6 months of the year... 6 months you are on the same time and 6 months you are an hour difference.  How weird is that????

During our 33 year long marriage, my husband and I have had many oopsies over the time changes... arriving to church as the service is over because we forgot to change our clocks... arriving an hour early and wondering where everyone else was... changing all the clocks in the house but forgetting to change the clock in the car and having panic attacks thinking you are an hour late and where the heck did you lose the hour!  To make things easier for us and to prevent these oopsies of the past from reoccurring... I purchased all new clocks for every bedroom in the house that change automatically.  These clocks worked beautifully for several years.... until....  they changed the dates for the time changes... now our clocks change two weeks early and have to now be reset again... twice... once to correct the current time and again when the time actually does change.  AYE YA YA!!!!  Can't win for loosing on that one!  

Benjamin Franklin is credited for being the inventor of the time change... the original idea (and still current argument as to why we observe Daylight Savings Time) is to maximize the use of daylight when Spring offers more daylight earlier in the day and later in the day during Fall... the idea is to save energy used for lighting.  We all love it in the Fall when we set our clocks back... and we all grumble in the Spring when we reset our clocks forward and we lose an hour.

Tick Tock set your clocks back... and should you forget... tis always... Spring Forward, Fall Back!