Here we are at the changing of the clocks to spring forward into Daylight Savings time. None of us enjoy the change in the spring. We do enjoy the extra hour of sleep when we fall back later in the year. That feels like a gift but this feels like a punishment. Get up an hour earlier for church tomorrow? Ugh! Okay. But seriously, why are we even adjusting our clocks twice a year? What is the history that caused this to be implemented in the first place and does it still have benefits?
The idea of aligning waking hours to daylight hours to conserve candles was first proposed in 1784 by American polymath Benjamin Franklin. He suggested that waking up earlier in the summer would economize candle usage and calculated considerable savings. Wikipedia
Does it still make sense since we don't use candles to light our homes anymore. Well, my quick research says there are some safety and health benefits. Less pedestrians are killed and people get outside in the evenings to recreate and that is always a good thing. But the energy savings are not there since we have so many 24 hour a day appliances and devices.
So why still do this whole clock reset dance? Who knows. It seems like the writing is on the wall to eliminate it altogether. Our New Mexico legislature seems to vote on it every year. So far we are all in the DS column. Hawaii and Arizona have not changed their clocks and other states appear to be following their lead. We all witnessed Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana and now most states have legalized.
It seems daylight savings time will become a thing of the past that we have evolved out of one state at a time. Until then we will get up an hour earlier tomorrow and drink an extra cup of coffee to get our blood pumping an hour earlier than this morning. Here's to being able to call my Arizona family an hour earlier to wake their cozy selves up on New Mexico Daylight Savings Time just to say good morning. Sweet!!
In Him,
Joyful
3-12-22
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