DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

Getting up this a.m. was a task, and I knew it would be. When the clock falls back there is a short lived sense that you got an extra hour of sleep but the internal clock takes it all in stride. This morning the clock had fallen forward and my body thought it was 5:00 a.m. The radio doesn’t know the difference, it just does what it’s told. I had set it forward on Saturday but I sleep late on Sunday, missed the point altogether. This morning it took 11 minutes for me to bridge the consciousness gap and that put a kink in my schedule. I usually hit the parking lot at 6:25 and start my swim ten minutes later. I thought about my 11 minute penalty and the lethargic effort I was making. I didn’t have to do the math. Within 20 minutes after I finish my swim the guards are rolling up the lane dividers in preparation for the lady’s aquarobics class. I’ve got it timed so I can get my swim in before the ladies take over and only a few minutes to spare. So this time I dozed for a while, until my body was ready to get up. 

I hate to miss workout on Monday. Two days off is alright but three days without exercise sets me back. I arrived at 7:35, the time I usually crawl out of the pool. Sweats and tennis shoes were the uniform and I went up to walk with a bunch of strangers. The track is a balcony over the gym, 16 laps to a mile. This morning they were walking in groups of 2 or 3 or 4 and they were talking. I want to work at a heart rate of 120-130 beats/minute and talking is a struggle at that rate. So they’re talking and I’m passing. They are trained pretty well, sense you approaching and open a hole where you can slip through. You can’t help catching bits of their conversation each time you pass. I try to remember who’s who and connect the sound bites, figure out what the conversation is about. Two ladies were talking about men, someone they knew who had health problems. Two mixed groups were grumbling about the time change. I heard a couple of complaints yesterday at church and not a good word anywhere since. I don’t know if it’s coincidence but it seems daylight savings is unpopular everywhere. It doesn’t matter if we are falling forward or back, it’s an inconvenience. “Just leave the time alone.” That’s what I hear. 

DST has been around for a long time. It came and went and came back again; east, west, Europe, Asia, North America. After the energy crisis of the 1970’s it was pitched as a way to save energy. Nobody wanted kids walking to school or waiting for a bus in the dark so in winter, they left the magic hour in the morning. But summer time, outdoor time was different. The sun comes up early in summer anyway. More daylight in the evening seemed like a good thing. I think people are just more fractious now than I remember, grumbling is more about the person than the object of their displeasure. I don’t like to grumble, it’s depressing. When I feel like complaining it comes quite natural to hit reset and do a second take. If I can’t change what I don’t like, grumbling is just a self inflicted wound. I know there must be people who take some satisfaction there but all I can do is avoid their penchant for pain and try to stay positive. By Thursday I’ll be acclimated and I’ll make the 6:35 swim time without any hangups. I did like the walk and the weight machines afterward. I may incorporate them into my schedule as the season unwinds. Sunrise and sunset, I like them both, regardless of the hour. One is a metaphor for hope and anticipation, the other is about reflection, bookends for a precious day. Even days we struggle through, we only get so many of them and to take any one of them for granted is more self inflicted punishment. The last year I worked at a job, I threw my watch away. There were clocks on the wall at school so we knew when the bell would ring and you could place yourself between meals. DST is one of many harbingers of spring. I really like it when trees start popping new leaves and you need a boat to go fishing out on the lake. When Standard Time comes back around the naysayers will be grumbling about snow and cold.