Light

Daylight Saving Time. I know, it sounds wrong to say it without the ‘s’ on the end of Saving, but I learned (not too long ago) that the correct term is Saving. Anyway, last night we “gained” an hour when Daylight Saving Time ended. What a weird concept. I mean, I get it to an extent, but I also…just don’t at all. And I’ve heard so many “reasons” for why it was instituted in the first place. I started trying to look it up, but I still found lots of different stories about it and then I realized I’m not sure that I care all that much why it started. I just think it’s kind of fascinating that the majority of states still observe the practice of changing the clocks twice a year.

Now, I think it’s important to note that we don’t actually lose an hour in the spring and gain an hour in the fall. Yes, according to the clocks we do, but that one day doesn’t magically get an hour longer in the spring and an hour shorter in the fall. We just assign the time differently. And yes, if we’re talking about light, the days “get shorter” in the fall, but that has to do with where the Earth is in its axial tilt. But, although no magical being is hitting fast forward on the Earth’s rotation one night in March and then pausing it one night in November, it can feel strange when we assign the hours differently.

As someone who runs every day, almost always in the morning, I appreciate having it get light out a little earlier in the morning so I don’t have to run in the dark as much. But I hate that there will be days when I don’t make it home from work before dark in the next couple of months until the earth’s tilt is back far enough in the other direction. Light matters to me, though, and I think it does to a lot of people. I’ve seen quite a few posts on social media this week about whether to keep observing Daylight Saving Time for much of the year, to abolish it and stay on Standard Time, or to switch to Daylight Saving Time permanently. But how we classify it doesn’t really make much of a difference to me–what matters to me is the light.

I love living in a climate where I get to experience all four seasons. I’ve probably written about that before, but I really do. I would be sad if I didn’t have some snow during the holidays, and I would be sad if I didn’t get at least a few hot summer days to sit outside in the shade, but I would be especially sad if I didn’t get the other seasons to layer clothes, and run in temperatures that are just right, and watch plants burst forth in the spring and then go dormant in the fall. I do very much miss the light in the late fall and winter, but at the same time I feel grateful for the cue from Ma Nature to slow down and settle in for longer stretches when the temperatures drop and the cold winds blow.

So I guess this is just a reminder to myself to take advantage of the “shorter days” and let myself rest more, guilt free. Because no matter what “time” you assign them, the hours will keep passing and the light will keep doing its seasonal advance and retreat as long as the earth continues to rotate and tilt back and forth on that axis.