At Home in Upland

Time Was Constant - Then came Daylight Savings Time.

By Brad Rachielles

Einstein and his relativity thing aside, for those of us not traveling at light speeds, TIME IS CONSIDERED A CONSTANT. Sunrise and sunset were predictable.

Then came Benjamin Franklin. It was said that he awoke at 6:00 AM once (rumors suggest that his normal rising time was somewhere around noon) and noted that there was actually light over the land at that time of day. HIS thought process was to recognize that he could get more done if the daylight hours were shifted so that he could continue his schedule, yet have light until a later hour. This seems convoluted to me, but so be it. Apparently, he just didn't know how to make that happen.

Fast Forward to 1918.

In that year it became a law in the U.S. that all states would observe Daylight Savings Time. Not only did the rotation and the wobble of the earth give everyone more daylight in the summer months, but it was now law that on a prescribed date all clocks would be moved ahead one hour in the spring, and set back an hour in the fall.

Then came WWII

The war effort seemed to benefit from an adjustment in the clock. More daylight, more production, so on February 9, 1942, Daylight savings Time was a constant - NON-STOP. Standard Time had taken a shift. Then, on September 30, 1945, Standard time was re-enacted and D.S.T became optional by state. All was well and we were back to what many generations were considering the norm.

28 Years Later Came the Oil Embargo.

Energy was to become a big deal. Gas lines were long and oil was a more scarce commodity. In 1973 we were doing everything possible to conserve, so D.S.T. was extended... all the way through the winter months. Standard Time was again back in the mix in 1974. For more than three decades, we were back on schedule. We had become used to having time as a predictable fact of life.

Nothing Remains Constant Except Change.

2007 arrived and Daylight Savings Time was extended for a month. No wonder the population has so many that are confused. So, this is where we are now:

• in 2011, Daylight Savings Time Started on March 13th (that's when we "Sprung Forward" an hour) and
• will have continued for 238 days when
• it ends THIS SUNDAY (November 6th at 2:00 A.M. when we "Fall Back" an hour).

Unlike Ben Franklin, some of us LIKE to get up at 6:00 A.M and LIKE having the sun greet us. Yes, there may be some energy saving as a result of D.S.T., but there IS something to be said for the lifestyles that many have become accustomed to.

Photo Credit: Flickr CC as of 11/2/2011 by Plaisanter