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| Image, Teece Aronin. |
So many things about this ritual confuse me, starting with the name. Is it Daylight Savings or Daylight Saving? I've thought about this quite a bit. For years, I thought it was Savings, but often see it written as Saving. Why this distinction bothers me I have no idea. If I dedicated as much thought to other aspects of time, I could discuss Einstein's theories more impressively at cocktail parties and maybe even get places when I'm supposed to - the latter being the bigger achievement despite not having a science-minded bone in my body and never getting invited to cocktail parties.
I'm also confused by whether I'm really saving anything valuable since I've just lost an hour of sleep and will be exhausted all week. Every winter I get all psyched up in anticipation of Daylight Saving(s?) Time only to get there and find myself haunting my house like a sleep-deprived ghost until my circadian clock catches up.
And what exactly happens anyway? How did I just gain an hour of daylight and lose an hour of sleep? I mean, I get it - sort of - but it still seems counter-intuitive - or counter-clockwise - or counter-something. It just seems counter.
The first day of spring arrives close to the time we spring ahead. This is an event I've overblown in importance for years. Ever since I learned that spring commences at a specific time of day, say 12:57 p.m., I've gotten all excited about it every year, staring at the clock a few seconds ahead so that I'll know the very moment it begins, kind of like New Year's Eve but less depressing.
Years ago, on the first day of spring, I was babysitting for a four-year-old. I told him that spring would arrive later that day and that we could go outside a minute before and do a 60-second countdown to welcome in the new season. I was careful to explain that we wouldn't actually see spring arrive, but still, it would be coming at the same time we were outside counting. We walked out of the house, and the conversation went like this:
Me: Okay, here we are, out on the front porch. Spring will be here in exactly one minute. Are you ready to do the countdown with me?
Dougie: Yup!
Me: Okay, repeat after me: Sixty!
Dougie: Sixty!
Me: Fifty-nine!
Dougie: Fifty-nine!
Me: Fifty-eight!
Dougie: Fifty-eight!
Down and down, we counted until . . .
Me: Three!
Dougie: Three!
Me: Two!
Dougie: Two!
Me: One!
Dougie: One!
Me: Happy Spring!
Dougie: Happy Spring! . . . Now what?
Me: Now what what?
Dougie: Now what happens?
Me: Well, nothing happens.
Dougie: But where's the spring?
Me: It's here, right here, all around us.
Dougie: But nothing happened.
Me: Well, we didn't see anything happen. But something did happen.
Dougie: What?
Me: Spring.
Dougie: Where?
Me: Here. Everywhere. All around us.
Dougie: Oh, man, dat was a bummer. I goin' back in da house.
So here we are again, having just gained light and lost sleep. It's too confusing for me to ever fully grasp, so this will be the year I just roll with it. By the way, I googled it, and it's Daylight Saving Time.
So now, I've lost an hour's sleep, and I've also lost my S. On the bright side, I have an extra hour of daylight with which to go find them.
I'm also confused by whether I'm really saving anything valuable since I've just lost an hour of sleep and will be exhausted all week. Every winter I get all psyched up in anticipation of Daylight Saving(s?) Time only to get there and find myself haunting my house like a sleep-deprived ghost until my circadian clock catches up.
And what exactly happens anyway? How did I just gain an hour of daylight and lose an hour of sleep? I mean, I get it - sort of - but it still seems counter-intuitive - or counter-clockwise - or counter-something. It just seems counter.
The first day of spring arrives close to the time we spring ahead. This is an event I've overblown in importance for years. Ever since I learned that spring commences at a specific time of day, say 12:57 p.m., I've gotten all excited about it every year, staring at the clock a few seconds ahead so that I'll know the very moment it begins, kind of like New Year's Eve but less depressing.
Years ago, on the first day of spring, I was babysitting for a four-year-old. I told him that spring would arrive later that day and that we could go outside a minute before and do a 60-second countdown to welcome in the new season. I was careful to explain that we wouldn't actually see spring arrive, but still, it would be coming at the same time we were outside counting. We walked out of the house, and the conversation went like this:
Me: Okay, here we are, out on the front porch. Spring will be here in exactly one minute. Are you ready to do the countdown with me?
Dougie: Yup!
Me: Okay, repeat after me: Sixty!
Dougie: Sixty!
Me: Fifty-nine!
Dougie: Fifty-nine!
Me: Fifty-eight!
Dougie: Fifty-eight!
Down and down, we counted until . . .
Me: Three!
Dougie: Three!
Me: Two!
Dougie: Two!
Me: One!
Dougie: One!
Me: Happy Spring!
Dougie: Happy Spring! . . . Now what?
Me: Now what what?
Dougie: Now what happens?
Me: Well, nothing happens.
Dougie: But where's the spring?
Me: It's here, right here, all around us.
Dougie: But nothing happened.
Me: Well, we didn't see anything happen. But something did happen.
Dougie: What?
Me: Spring.
Dougie: Where?
Me: Here. Everywhere. All around us.
Dougie: Oh, man, dat was a bummer. I goin' back in da house.
So here we are again, having just gained light and lost sleep. It's too confusing for me to ever fully grasp, so this will be the year I just roll with it. By the way, I googled it, and it's Daylight Saving Time.
So now, I've lost an hour's sleep, and I've also lost my S. On the bright side, I have an extra hour of daylight with which to go find them.
