Tuesday, March 13, 2012

A Spring in my Step

This weekend, I was made blissfully happy by the exact thing that seemed to wreak havoc and unimaginable strife on hordes of people across the country. I speak of the wonderfulness that is Daylight Savings Time.

I can already hear the groaning. Twitter was packed with harried souls, all complaining of their precious lost hour, and the difficulty in adjusting their inner clock. Dinner is too early. . . not the least bit tired at bedtime. . . super tired in the morning—there seemed to be complaints aplenty clogging every stream.

Now, granted, I am on a different schedule than most, staying up really late and waking when I’m good and ready. But still, even when I had the 8 to 5 job, I LOVED daylight savings time. For me, it is catapulting me not just one hour into the future, but straight into spring in one fell swoop. In the space of one day, I feel as though fresh, new life is on its way, with summer not far behind.

Who wouldn’t love that? More time to do things outdoors after work? Sign me up! Every year at Daylight Savings Time I feel as though I’m emerging from my cocoon, blinking into the brightness of day and filling my lungs with the fresh scent of promise.

With the changing of the clock, I can finally shake loose the hibernation of winter, the hours on the couch lit by the artificial light of lifeless bulbs or the flickering light of TV and computer screens, and the inherent slowness that seems to drape my movements all winter. The brisk spring air calls to me, the sunshine beckons mightily, and I can’t help but heed the call.

With the change, flowers seem to come from nowhere, not yet fully formed but perfectly filled with potential. The grass begins to green, and the distant hum of pontoons hitting the water flavors the air. The door to the back porch finds itself open more often than not, and the lure of the grill beckons once more.

For the first time in months, I feel like a kid again, eager to explore, to laugh, to spread my airs and spin in the sun-warmed air. Bring on the light! Bring on the side into spring and summer.

Now, go forth and wallow in the goodness, and forget the small price we must pay for the one way ticket to spring. Your inner clocks will adjust, I promise!

Are you with me? Or do you hate DLS like so many others? Am I the only one who loves this time of year?

13 comments:

  1. I love you, Erin. BUT I'm not with you on this. The Monday after DLS is my least favorite day of the year. They took away my favorite hour of the day. Which means in the fall, my favorite day of the year is when I get that hour back. ***Ah, sleep, my old friend,

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    1. LOL - it all hinges on one tiny hour of lost sleep for you, huh? Well, I actually do like daylight savings time in fall too - that nice extra hour of sleep dulls the disappointment of the coming winter. See? DST is good all around! ;)

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  2. I'm with you. I consider the return to Daylight Saving Time a national holiday! It's the most wonderful day of the year. LOL I might be losing an hour, BUT it puts me closer to spring, and summer. That makes me very happy. :)

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    1. Yay! A fellow DST lover :) I think we should concoct a special cupcake for the new DST national holiday!

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  3. To you, I must say...Eh, whatever. LOL. My thought on the matter is that spring will arrive with all those good things whether the government screws with my sleep or not. I don't really care where they settle the clocks...if it's on the spring/summer time or whether it is on the winter/fall time, but I want them to LEAVE my clocks alone, internal, external, and otherwise.

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    1. Yeah, it will still arrive, but not nearly so spectacularly! It's like a vegas intro into the season... Abracadaba, it's now dark at 7pm!

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  4. Personally, I wish they'd just leave the clocks turned forward and have that be standard time. They way they keep moving the time change ahead each spring and back each fall, it's headed that direction anyway. Unless we're going to change the clocks for Christmas or something. :-/

    For me, spring is the first robin, the crocuses in bloom and the first 15-degree plus day. (I live in Canada--we do Celcius here. 15 degrees is around 60. We're supposed to get ours on Sunday.)

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    1. Believe it or not, I wasn't even sure if you guys observed it up there in Canada. It is kind of odd how they are moving the fall one back and the spring one forward...but hey, if it was just Christmas, that would mean we would lose and gain the hour all in one day, lol!

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  5. I LOVE spring forward! An extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day is a joy to me. I think they should just do away with fall back altogether...I'm guessing there are very few children who still have to work on the farm before school in the morning! Crazy antiquated system.
    Hooray for spring!!
    Ps. My friend Lisa just said that she was complaining about DLS while driving her kids to school, and her ten year old said he loved it because the streetlights in the dark were so beautiful. How's that for a positive outlook:)

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  6. Somehow on not surprised that we have the same feelings about DST :) and what a lovely outlook on the street lights! So cute :)

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  7. I love daylight savings time cause if I didn't it would be pretty bright around here at night. We are, I think, coming close to losing our extra hour soon down under. I'm just not sure when we change back but then I'll have to retune to our time differences again. That part of it drives me crazy.

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    1. Ha - another country that I had no idea observed DST! Yeah, messing with our clocks is a little wonky, but it keeps things interesting!
      Thanks for stopping by :)

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  8. DST affected me brutally this year. Until the clocks leaped forward, I woke up every morning around 5 or 6 AM to write. But now I can't seem to get back onto that sleeping pattern and have been going to bed super late and waking up the following afternoon!

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