Posted on 03/07/2020 9:00:07 AM PST by SamAdams76
Starting tomorrow, Sunday, March 8, the days will get one hour longer. No more driving home from work in the dark until October. One extra hour of daylight!
This is one of my favorite times of the year and the first true sign that spring is upon us. Now I will have time to sit outside on my patio after work and watch for signs of the coming summer with a beer in my hand and a steak on the grill.
I just want to give thanks to an otherwise horrible president, Lyndon Johnson, who did do one good thing for the U.S. by signing into law the Daylight Savings Act on April 12, 1966 that gave us an extra hour of daylight from last Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October. Now we did have DST well before 1966 - actually Benjamin Franklin first thought of it - but it was mostly during the summer months and different areas of the country had different rules about it.
Since then, future politicians would dick around with the timing, causing the extra hour of daylight to occur nearly two months sooner and extended the end of DST through first Sunday of November.
The latter, I do not like, because it means that on Halloween night, we are still having the longer days. Now growing up during the 1970s, dark would always come earlier on Halloween, effectively extending the trick-or-treating time for the kids. These days, nobody is really able to get out there trick-or-treating until around 7PM which is disturbingly close to bedtime for the little tots out there. I say move the end of DST back to the last Sunday of October so the kids get to stay out in the dark a little longer. Otherwise, I'm fine with having the longer days begin the first week of March.
It also makes sense to have more darkness in the winter months because it's not like anybody is going to be outside working in their tomato garden or sitting on their decks grilling hamburgers in 20 degree weather. Also, I like the extra darkness in winter because the Christmas lights, which pretty much go from mid November to mid January, look much nicer in the dark.
So anyway, this is a very exciting day for most of us. We get to see the sun set for the last time around 5PM. Starting tomorrow, it won't set until around 6PM and by mid-June, we'll be watching the sunset well past 8:30PM as we bat away mosquitoes and pull another cold one from the cooler.
As you can tell, I'm a big, big advocate of Daylight Savings Time and this is like a holiday for me.
I do like the loooong days in the summer in Calgary, sunrise 5:30AM, sunset 9:45PM, give or take. (Summer solstice, June 21: 5:21-9:54.) The winter however, ain’t much fun! Dec. 21: 8:37AM - 4:31PM.
As I drive for a living and sometimes have to be at work before 5:30 AM, I MUCH prefer summer. Of course, the roads are usually not snowy in the summer, though we have had snow in all 12 months of the year, and they are much less crowded.
I, too, are among those that would like the powers that be, to get rid of DST. Pick ONE time zone and stick with it! Apparently, statistics show far more accidents on the Monday and Tuesday after the switch to DST. I am blessed with having Monday off, so I am pleased with that.
Article from 2 years ago, I guess it didn't happen
One of the reasons plants start growing at this time of year is because they have that extra hour of daylight to assist in their photosynthetic processes. At least that’s what a Bernie supporter told me.
Or maybe the sun will just set one hour later, according to your clock...
[snip] Under the draft law, each of the countries in the European Union will have to choose before 2021 [/snip]
http://www.google.com/search?q=EU+Daylight+Saving+Time
Do we have a “like” button? I want to use it.
Since you're was the 2nd post on this thread, you're now outnumbered 2 to 1.......LOL!
I hate DSL. One of the stupidest ideas in the history of mankind. Not quite as bad as socialism but pretty high on the list.
Midnight should be at the middle of the night and noon should mark the middle of the day. If you don’t like driving in the dark shift your own schedule forward an hour don’t force it on the rest of us.
Tomorrow's later sunset is going to be GLORIOUS!
I’m the same way.
The last couple of weeks the sun has been up when I leave for work. Makes me feel like I’m running late.
Leaving in the morning in the dark or semi-dark seems natural to me.
Let's get some college/Millennials all upset and refuse to go to classes, maybe even holding their breaths or taking to their coloring books to let the "adults" know how upsetting it is?
I’m a big fan of “Solomon Time” - split the difference and knock this crap off already.
Do you really trust the government to have this much control over the sun?
I wonder where clockmed is now....
You are FOS.
You sure it’s tankless? Mine consumes nothing except when I turn the hot tap on, regardless of time of day.
Ho hum. We should leave God’s time alone!
Me too!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.