"If You Take Off One Hour..."

A week or two before the end of October, little conversations start popping up at our house. Most of the time they go like this:

"Do you know that Daylight Savings Time ends soon?"
"Uh huh. And that means that we move the time back an hour."
"No, no. It means we move it forward an hour."
"That's crazy. We move the time back an hour in the fall and forward an hour in the spring."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sure we move it forward."
"Don't you remember? In the fall for a little while after you change the time you wake up before your alarm goes off because the time has been moved back. So you feel like it's 7:30 when it's only 6:30, new time."
"No, no, no. That's in the spring, because in the spring I take advantage of the time change to start getting up earlier." "Oh, that's crazy."

By the time they get about that far in the conversation, the two speakers have gotten themselves and everyone listening so confused that they can't continue. I hear and engage in these kinds of exchanges each fall, and usually before they end, that little mnemonic 'Spring forward, Fall back' has been quoted and mis-quoted beyond recognition. There are always two sides: one side holds that you move the time forward in the fall, and the other insists it is backwards that the time should go.

By the time Daylight Savings Time really ends, we are all so confused we have no idea what is going to happen. We just wait and see. This year, I happened to be on the side of the argument that won. The time did go backwards. The first day with no Daylight Savings Time was nice. I had completely forgotten to turn my clock back the night before, so that morning I got to sleep in until 8:00, and then turn it back to 7:00 and sleep another hour. (It was on Sunday. We don't normally sleep until 8:00!) Mom was happy because the time change gave her an entire hour to do some of the little jobs she enjoys doing on Sunday's.

Only one or two of the clocks had been turned back. It was bewildering to look at one clock, be assured that it was lunchtime, and then glance at another one to see you still had an hour to wait. Slowly each clock was turned back. That made it even more confusing! Having already disregarded one clock as the wrong time, I would inwardly subtract an hour and work with that time, only to discover later that the original clock-reading really WAS the right time.

But by the end of the day all the clock's were marching to the same tune...or ticking to the same time...or something. All except Beka's. She still hasn't changed her own clock, and continues getting up and going to bed by the same time. She says it is better for her to go to bed and get up early. Personally, I can't stand that kind of schedule, but I guess she doesn't mind it!

The first few days without Daylight Savings Time are always enjoyable, and this year was no exception. Being able to sleep for an entire extra hour was delightful! Staying up an hour past normal bed-time was also fun (for me, anyway).

There were one or two things that nobody enjoyed. Like eating lunch an hour late, or having to do the animal chores an hour early. With the time change, it gets dark so much earlier that Timmy and Caleb have to do the chores before supper now, so the turkeys don't have a chance to fly up in the trees to roost.

Most of us have pretty successfully re-set our inner clocks. I've already stopped waking up at 6:30 a.m., and have begun going to bed at a reasonable hour again. My cat, however, is not pleased with this whole schedule-rearranging thing. Every morning at 7:00, she comes into my room and meows pitifully for a minute or two. When I glance down at her, she looks up at me as if to say, "What on earth are you doing in bed so late? Don't you know it's my turn to sleep now? Get up and get to work! The night was over three hours ago!"

Having lived through this time change, I was looking forward to the absence of the arguments about clocks and times and seasons. It was, therefore, slightly disappointing when I happened upon Timmy and Caleb in the living room.

T: "Caleb, why did you get up so early this morning?"
C: "Because we changed the time, silly."
T: "What does that have to do with anything?"
C: "Don't you know? Since we changed the time, we get up an hour earlier now."
T: "Oh come on! Caleb, we should be getting up an hour LATER, now. You don't get up at 6:00, you get up at 7:00."
C: "Old time or new time?"
T: "What do you mean?"
C: "7:00 old time or new time?"
T: "Why would I be using old time? Of course it's new time! We changed the time weeks ago."
C: "It was just a few days ago. Besides, I'm sure we get up at 6:00 now."
T: "No! No, we don't! Look, just forget about the time change and get up whenever the clock says 7:30. Just pretend the time never changed!"
C: "Wait a minute, Tim. Let's think about this. If you consider the added hour, then..."
T: "Oh, good grief!"

Oh, good grief, alright! Just when I thought it was all over! But, fortunately, these arguments have been scarce...a good thing for my sanity. Now I can relax and enjoy life...until next Spring. Can't you just hear it?

"Hey, did you know that Daylight Savings Time starts soon?"
"Does it? That means we move the time backward an hour, right?"
"No, it means we move it forward."
"Forward? I thought we moved in forward in the fall."
"Don't be silly. We moved it backward, of course. Don't you know that little thing, 'Spring forward, Fall back?'"
"Oh, I guess that is right. That means it feels like 7:00 at 6:00, right?"
"No, other way around. It feels like 6:00 at 7:00."
"Are you sure? Look at it this way. If we take off an hour...."

The Weekly Bible Verse

Proverbs 3:1-2: My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

Bits and Pieces

Nothing much has happened this week. Things have been nice and slow and routine. After a rather unpleasant, fast, and unscheduled summer, it's been very enjoyable to get back into a predictable lifestyle. Cooking, cleaning, and school have taken up most of my time, with a generous helping of free-time.

I am sad to say that my faithful helper and friend, our digital camera, has died. We're not sure what killed it...though we strongly suspect being dropped on the floor on Halloween night did not help it much. I am very sad, since it is through that camera that I take the pictures for this Weekly. I'll be operating off of old pictures, or using none at all, until Mom can locate a new camera for us. Farewell, faithful friend! You've definitely earned your rest.

Here's a fun little thing for you. Can you find the frog in this picture? If you can't, come back next week to see where it is! Photo by Beka.

A Word About The Weather

It's been pretty chilly, but nice and sunny all week. The mornings are always very chilly, and the evenings get snapping cold, but the afternoons have been lovely! We actually ran the furnace twice this week! Mom has been putting it off as long as possible, but she finally surrendered to our numerous cries of, "Mom, I'm SO cold!"

A Word Of Wisdom

Never leave a white, fleece sweater within reach of your dark-haired cat. The results can be disastrous.