Changing Times

Saturday, November 02, 2024

Turning back our clocks tonight will make us more vigorously anticipate the upcoming “dark days of winter.” Time changes are mechanical acts that complicate our lives for days ahead. They challenge us, and we mis-assess our routines for a while, confused by changing daylight periods, odd to-bed and getting-up times, and our standard getting-things-done patterns. Remembering how much the time change will affect my daily life is discomforting.

I live on a small acreage and have a few outside animals, equines, chickens, turkeys, and a goat. Their feeding times trigger my understanding of daylight length. In summer, feeding the outside animals can stretch over long hours; in fall, feeding times become condensed; and in dark winter, most feedings occur in a nighttime atmosphere.

Turning back the clocks tonight has me anticipating the different relationship between clock time and natural daylight tomorrow. A key concern is scheduling feedings for my outside animals. Feedings in natural light are the easiest and most safely handled. Starting tomorrow, I must feed them earlier and manage to repeat that, at least once in natural light, and prepare to provide their latest feedings during the dark and cold nighttimes.

Other discomforting thoughts are about a personal transition. From experience, I anticipate that nightly bedtimes will become compelling by 7 p.m. because of the earlier darkness outside. On the opposite side of bedtime, I will worry about having overslept by seeing more light through the bedroom windows.

I’ll be adjusted to this time change by next week. Next spring, I will write about the agonies brought on by anticipating yet another artificial time change.

Dear Friends: I want “To change or not change clock times” on the ballot. Diana