And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. Genesis 1:14-15 (ESV)
It is no secret how I feel about daylight savings time. I think it is a horrific lie straight from you know where. How people can think that we have an “extra hour” just because they move their clock forward is crazy, but true. Even I subconsciously buy into it though I know it is all manufactured. I made the mistake of staying up too late on the night that we sprang forward. I had a lot on my sewing to do list and was making progress when I got called away from the sewing machine to go out for dinner and a trip to Home Depot. Even though it was just for a hamburger and fries and even though we were purchasing air conditioning filters and light bulbs, it was still a “date” and I didn’t want to say I would rather stay at the sewing machine. So, when we got home, I had finishing a couple of projects on my mind. I wanted to get a small baby quilt and a larger lap quilt ready to be bound the next day. I sat down at the machine about 9:30 and before I knew it, it was 12:30 EST (eastern standard time), otherwise known as 1:30 DST (daylight savings time). Not a good plan. Not a good plan at all. But, the next day at 6:00 PM, I was not tired. Not even after only five hours of sleep and a day that included church, gardening, sewing and a riding lesson. No, I was not tired because my body was telling me that it was only 5:00 PM. In fact, my body told me I couldn’t be hungry, it was not time to eat. Until oldest son came roaring in like an angry bear who hasn’t eaten all winter. He gets that from his dad, the angry bear when his stomach is empty thing. So, after we had “words”, I threw together a very healthy meal, quinoa, grilled salmon, green beans and a salad (it was easier to cook healthy in the face of the angry bear-sort of passive aggressive you know). Then, I finished my projects and went to bed at 10:00 PM EST or 11:00 PM DST. That’s the thing with daylight savings time, you are always calculating what time it “really is” not what time it needs to be. I heard on the radio this morning that there are more car accidents and heart attacks the weeks after we spring forward than on New Year’s Eve. You just can’t mess with our bodies that way and expect nothing bad to happen. They say even losing one hour’s sleep is enough to set us off kilter and that too much light in the evening messes with our body’s natural rhythms making it difficult to go to sleep and stay asleep. So, not only is my schedule a mess, but my body is too and we all know my body is messed up enough on its own.
Amen, Sister… AMEN! I'd love to see DST done away with.