Daylight Saving Time...?
What's happening here?
Based on what we know, daylight saving time isn't coming in, it's going out, and time goes back to normal...supposedly. After tampering with the clock for so long, who knows what normal is?
The whole idea is to have longer days during summer so we can make better use of daylight to do things that we wouldn't be outside trying to do in freezing temperatures, which conserves energy.
Therefore, someone proposed manipulating the time to give the illusion of more daylight.
Notice I said, "give the illusion of more daylight". That's because manipulating the time doesn't add or subtract daylight. It merely adjusts the hour to determine how light it will be at 6 AM and at 6 PM (when the sun rises and sets).
We overslept a few times this month because it was still dark at 6 AM, giving the illusion of being the dead of night instead of being time to get up and get ready for the day.
When we move the clock back an hour, the sun has time to rise and give the illusion of it being later in the morning than it really is. This burst of light serves as an alarm, which sometimes causes us to jump to our feet in a panic, thinking we've overslept.
Such is the life of juggling time back and forth.
What is the origin of Daylight Saving Time?
Though Daylight Saving Time has only been official in the U.S. for about a century, the Romans would use different time-telling scales for different months of the year. And ancient cultures would sync their schedules with the sun's rising and setting--which is basically what we do today.
Pittsburgh's Robert Garland, an industrialist, met with the Daylight Saving Time idea in the U.K. and campaigned so passionately for it in the United States that society called him the "father of Daylight Saving." President Woodrow Wilson then signed "Fast time" into law in 1918 to support World War I war efforts.
Did you know that during World War II from February 9, 1942, to September 30, 1945, Daylight Saving Time was called "War Time"? Well, it was. Eastern Standard Time was known as "Eastern War Time", Central Standard Time was "Central War Time", and so on.
Another interesting piece of history links famous names to the Daylight Saving Time system. Have you ever heard of a British builder named William Willett?
He insisted that summer was such that everyone should get up earlier, arguing that too many hours of daylight were being wasted.
Willett would become known as the man who put the clocks forward, after having successfully fought for an 80-minute clock adjustment in 1916. The decision met with great opposition, and after lengthy litigation, we currently have a 60-minute time alteration.
It might surprise you to know that the United States was not the first to implement Daylight Saving Time. On April 30, 1916, Germany turned their clocks forward at 11:00 PM, initiating Daylight Saving Time, during World War I to conserve energy.
Today...here and now...70 countries around the world currently utilize the Daylight Saving Time method.
What happens the day after time goes back an hour?
The morning after time takes a 60-minute backstep is a little strange. It's no longer dark at 6 AM, less chance of oversleeping.
Some will probably leap off the bed, run into the door facing in a rush to get dressed, thinking they're late for work.
There's nothing like snuggling under the covers in the wee hours of a brisk, dimly lit October morning. Something homey and pleasant about it. For this reason, a time adjustment takes some getting used to.
Those who love sipping on a cup of Joe before sunrise will experience the greatest shift. No more sitting in the calm of dawn, taking in the morning, quietly making a mental blueprint of the day.
On the other hand, nobody's stirring about on frigid winter evenings, so a 6 PM nightfall is just as well. However, going to bed that early is a stretch, which poses a shock to one's sleep pattern when trying to adapt.
Luckily, Halloween is an amusing distraction from the inevitable time-shifting blow to universal scheduling.
It would be completely logical to refer to October 31 as the "night of time-shifting". It kinda fits into the whole "spooky" narrative.
Speaking of Halloween...
As is tradition, ghosts and ghouls, superheroes, witches and fairy tale characters "trick or treat" all over the world. Kids and grownups alike turn into the unthinkable for one spooktacular night.
Halloween means "holy", while the day is simultaneously associated with remembering the dead--among other things.
Halloween superstitions
- Celtic people felt close to deceased relatives and friends
- Some set places at the dinner table and left treats outside and lit candles to help the dead find their way back to the spirit world.
- We avoid black cats for fear of bad luck
- In the Middle Ages, many believed witches turned themselves into cats to avoid detection
- We don't want to walk under ladders
- People avoid breaking mirrors, spilling salt or stepping on cracks in the road
- Young women believed Halloween would help them identify their future husbands
- 18th-century Ireland cooks would bury a ring in the mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to summon true love
Whether you're part of the dress ups, superstitions, or sweet excitement, it's Halloween nonetheless.
By chance, Halloween is also the end of Daylight Saving Time, which means we celebrate the spooky night...even if we really don't.
So, prepare to awaken to a brighter morning and the early arrival of the night for the next few months.
After Halloween comes the light.
Article was written by Peggy Hatchet James
Copyright © 2015
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