Saving Daylight

By Susan/Miranda

Yesterday marked the beginning of Daylight Saving, three weeks earlier than usual.  In theory, this is supposed to be conserving oodles of energy for the betterment of the country, but like so many schemes put into being by Congress, it seems more than a little suspicious.  So far, none of the warnings of massive computer malfunctions have come true, and it remains to be seen if the predictions that people’s internal clocks are being upset and schoolchildren becoming depressed will come true, either.  But the bottom line is that once again we mortals are trying to jerk daylight around to suit us.

This is, of course, nothing new.  Long, long ago, people pretty much had to follow the sun’s schedule for day and night, just as animals did,  Fortunately Prometheus came to the rescue and stole fire from the Gods as a special gift for us snivelling low humans, making it possible to turn night into day.  For his trouble, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock with an eagle to fly down and devour his liver each day (a lesson to Congress if ever there was one.)

Much later, in the late 18th century during which us Wenches set our books, staying awake after dark continued to be a luxury.  Work days were defined by the rise and setting of the sun.  Battles were postponed by nightfall, journeys were limited by the length of the day, and farmers (which meant the majority of Europeans and Americans) still followed the days as determined by the sun and their animals with full moons offered a passing respite for travel and harvests. 

Candles, lamps, and firelight were, for most people, luxury items.  The best candles were made from spermaceti (a by-product of whaling) or beeswax, with homemade candles dipped from tallow (animal fat) a smelly, smoky second.  Even lower on the light-scale were rushes dipped in tallow.  Also just coming into popular use were lamps that burned whale-oil. 

Reading and writing by the light of a candle or fire may sound romantic, but it’s not easy on the eyes, as anyone who has tried it knows.  If people didn’t go directly to bed after dark, then they used these hours for tasks that didn’t require much light –– knitting, spinning, food preparation for the next day’s meals, cleaning tools and weapons –– and for cheerful entertainment like conversation, drinking, music, dancing, flirting, and general goofing around.

The ultimate luxury was a blazing chandelier, especially if the candles were replenished in the course of the evening.  No candles lasted very long, or gave off much light, which in turn dictated the taste for highly polished (and reflective) silverware, brass, and looking-glasses to capture and magnify all possible light.  The sheen of silk fabrics, metallic-threaded embroidary and lace, and cut-steel and marcasite buttons on evening dress accomplished the same thing.  Part of the reason why diamonds and other cut stones were considered appropriate for after dark was how well they showed by candlelight.

The first supporter of moving the clock ahead to capitalize on the longer days of summer was that consummate “improver” Benjamin Franklin.  But it wasn’t until English builder William Willet began to lobby Parliament in the early 20th century that the idea began to gain support.  While the objections of farmers and sailors made sense, some others seemed a little far-fetched, such as this expounded in the House of Lords by Lord Balfour:

“Supposing some unfortunate lady was confined with twins and one child was born ten minutes before 1 o’clock [when English clocks would be moved ahead] and the time of the birth of the two children would be reversed…Such alteration might conceivably affect the property and titles in that house.”

Or, in other words, which son got to be the Duke and therefore the Romance Hero.

Both England and America legislated Daylight Saving (called Summer Time in England) during the First World War.  Since then, it’s been sporadically lengthened or shortened: during World War Two, it lasted year-round, and was called “War Time”, while during the 70s, President Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act (saving sunlight, if not verbiage) which lasted for fifteen months. (For more about Daylight Saving, see: http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/e.html)

The current switch is a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  Now Daylight Saving will last from the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday in November, thereby totally messing up all those early-bird Trick-or-Treaters who count on going out when it’s dark at 4:30 on Halloween.  Theoretically, we’re all going to save 1% of our total energy costs, plus see our personal productivity grow by leaps and bounds.  There’s even supposed to be less crime.

So what about you?  Are you more productive by daylight, or does your brain whirl along better after the sun sets?  Did you find it horribly hard to get up with the alarm this morning?

Comments

[Maggie Robinson]

I'm not sure I'm productive any time of the day , but I'm more energetic at work than I am when I crawl home after 5 PM. I crave daylight, even though it reveals the dust. I get quite a bit done before I go into work at 10 AM...like read the Wenches!

Susan/Miranda, you've made the whole Fall back, spring ahead deal seem fascinating.

[Kathy Kremer]

Count me as a whiner. I don't like it when they spring forward, though falling back is not as big a deal. I takes about a week for my body to feel "normal" after the time change. I wish they would leave the clock alone. I'm also suspicious about what savings, if any, there could be. My children are grown now, but I remember a lot of battles about going to bed in the summer when it was still light at their bedtime. About the only good thing is being able to take a little sail after work and watch the sunset over the lake before going home to bed.

[Kalen Hughes]

I HATE the time change. HATE IT!!! I already have trouble sleeping, and this so doesn't help. Not that I slept at all last night, anyway. *yawn* We had our first "hot" day of the year (it awas 78) and my bedroom was an easybake oven.

[Susan Wilbanks]

I hate making the time change, but I like DST better. I'm not even remotely a morning person, so I like having more daylight at the end of the day, after work, when I can actually do something with it. (I've heard rumors that some people actually get up and work out, do chores, or even *write* BEFORE work, but that MUST be just crazy talk. How anyone can willingly function before 9:00 a.m. or have a creative, artistic thought before noon is quite beyond my powers of comprehension...)

[shscott21]

I found it very hard to get going this morning. I felt as if the days had slowly been getting lighter, earlier -- climbing up that long hill towards spring -- when bam! We got slapped back down into the dark again. As for getting the rest of my bed-loving family up, well, the less said about that, the better.

And another question, while we're at it: Why is it the woman's lot in life to be the family rooster, anyway?

Susan/Miranda

[meardaba]

I am morning person so long as the sun is up. That means that (where I'm from) I'm a very early riser in the summer and can wallow in bed much longer in the winter.

Hey, when it's light at 4 am, 6 o'clock doesn't look so bad.

[LorettaChase]

"(I've heard rumors that some people actually get up and work out, do chores, or even *write* BEFORE work, but that MUST be just crazy talk. How anyone can willingly function before 9:00 a.m. or have a creative, artistic thought before noon is quite beyond my powers of comprehension...)"
I'm with you, Susan W. I love DST and wish it lasted year round. I fondly remember that 15 month period of DST and never understood why they stopped it. I know there's a concern about schoolchildren going to school in the dark. But then, I never understood why kids had to go to school so early anyway, especially high school kids. Haven't there been studies proving they do better when their school day starts later?

[Patricia Rice]

my body clock operates on sunlight, so it doesn't matter what time of day the clock says, I wake up with dawn.

According to my husband, it isn't just energy savings they're trying to accomplish. Studies show that people buy more if it's light out, so retail stores do better business on DST. It's all about the money, isn't it?

[piper]

I love longer daylight hours and don't understand why they are concerned about kids going to school in the dark. As far as I can tell, they do for much of the year, and they also come home from school in the dark at least part of the year (all depending on what time school starts, I guess).

as for me, I get up with the dogs, whose stomachs are timed for breakfast precisely at 6:42 am. I wish they would learn to sleep in.

There was a time as well, when all of Saskatchewan was not on the same time. Some communities practiced DST, and others didn't. That lead to a whole lot of confusion.

[Queen Bee]

I get up with my dogs, too, or more precisely the dogs get me up. Who needs a rooster with three labs? They didn't seem to notice the change in the time either. Just like big babies!

[Val Jones]

I had no problems at home with the computer, but MS Outlook was MS OutToLunch at work. Recurring meetings changed for some people and not for others. Other meetings went away. A co-worker had his computer tell him it was Jan 1st, 1604 this morning when he tried to sign in. All of these people applied the MS patch.

I am one of the early bird people that gets up at 4, works out at 5, and watches the sun rise from the office before 7. I find it difficult to stay up much past 9. And I'll have to vote with Pat's husband as to the motivation.

[Edith]

I love to sleep, it's a hobby. I also love to stay up late.
But I so love the extra daylight; I don't feel to socked in when it's four o:clock. I wish we had DST all year. (I can sleep in sunlight too.)

[shscott21]

The older I get, the earlier I seem to fall asleep, and the earlier, too, I'm getting up. Like most writers, I used to be a night-owl, writing until my head fell forward on the keyboard long after midnight. Now, though, I can't see to make any sense after about eight, and I'm sound asleep in bed by ten.

But I'm the first one up (around four or five), and yes, those have become writing-hours for me. It's quiet, no one calls, and because the internet connection is in my daughter's room, I resist the net's siren call. And sitting in our den, I get to see the sun come up through the woods out back. Not bad!

Susan/Miranda

[Janga]

Daylight or dark, I am not a morning person, even though for much of my adult life I have been forced to behave like one. Monday through Friday I am up by five and on the road by 6:30, making a fifty-mile drive to my campus. But given a choice, I would work from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and sleep til noon. The only sunrises I ever appreciated were those I saw just before heading off to bed.

[Jaclyne Laurin]

Sleeping is a hobby for me too Edith, especially in the morning once my DH has gotten up and I can take possession of the whole bed! But like you I can fall asleep any time of the day...

I'm not sure that starting DST 3 weeks earlier is going to improve the overall energy savings, I have my doubts as to the real reason behind the change.

I'm basically a night owl. By the time my energy level rises, the sun has long set. The time change doesn't really affect me much. I accomplish much more 'work' after my kids have gone to bed. Don't force me to do all those chores in the a.m. I'm just not there!

[helen]

One of my father's ditties:

It's nice to get up in the morning,
when the sun begins to shine,
at 6 or 5 or four-o-clock
in the good old summertime.

But when the sky is murky,
and its cloudy overhead,
it's nice to get up in the morning but......
it's nicer to stay in bed!

[AgTigress]

Val wrote, "A co-worker had his computer tell him it was Jan 1st, 1604 this morning when he tried to sign in".

I really love that! The basis of a whole alternative-universe 17th-century historical seems to be unfolding before my very eyes. Shakespeare tapping away at his keyboard, early emigrants to North America flying out from Heathrow and complaining that it's a 7-hour flight...

'Changing the clocks', as we usually call it, has never bothered me much, though it does become confusing when one habitually communicates with people in different time-zones, whose clock-changing schedule does not necessarily coincide with one's own. Keeping track of time-zone differences for Australia and New Zealand are the worst, because their seasons are opposite, too. I never know for certain, when I phone my cousin in Sydney, what time it is there, only that they are between 10 and 12 hours ahead of us. Or something.

:-)

[shscott21]

AGTigress wrote: >

I love this notion, too. One blip of the chip, and we're all transported back to the 17th century. Certainly would make researching that time period easier, visiting like that -- so long as I could come back when I wanted....:)

Susan/Miranda

[shscott21]

Helen, your father's ditty makes a great deal of sense, esp. if it's still cold enough where you are that a warm bed seems the perfect place to remain. It has a very Winnie-the-Pooh logic to it, too.

Susan/Miranda