Daylight Savings Time Archives - View from the Front Porch

23 10, 2023

Change is Coming

By judythemorgan|2023-10-22T17:59:30-05:00October 23rd, 2023|A Writer's Life, Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

You can feel it in the air.

You can see it in the shifting of colors on the trees–shading from green to red to brown.

Shadows are lengthening as the sun shifts.

I’m sitting on my swing porch with a cup of tea. I can feel the change and at the same time dread it.

The constancy of seasonal changes can be comforting. If you live where leaves put on a show of color, nature supplies a master class in how change can be beautiful.

I definitely welcome the cooler temperatures after the sweltering summer we had.

The annual shift from Daylight Savings Time–that’s a major problem for me. My body protests the loss of an hour’s sleep and takes weeks to adjust.

I’m not a tree willingly changing color and shedding foliage. I’m a Texas tree that slowly fades to ugly, boring brown instead of glowing with reds, yellows, and oranges.

Grumbling and complaining, I remind myself there’s not much I can do about the weather or the time change except adjust my clothing, our thermostat, and our clocks.

I know Spring will roll around again and I will get back that hour of rest I lost. But the change tends to steal my peacefulness. It doesn’t have to.

A better approach to the change is with pliancy instead of frustration. Flexibility keeps our happiness steady. That’s why I take a cup of tea to the porch swing and relax.

Others recommend these three things when any change is stressful.

Breathe –By breathing slower and more deeply from your stomach, you signal your nervous system to calm down when you can’t control the situation. Purposeful breathing allows you to calm down and think rationally.
Smile – Smile even if whatever change has thrown your way is not funny. You’ll find a certain amount of detachment can lead to acceptance.
Pray or Meditate – To refocus the mind.

Most importantly, remember that change is the only constant in this world. Whatever the catastrophe or circumstance, eventually it will change.

What about you? What strategies do you use when change stresses you?

Falling Back-Springing Forward: Yea or Nay

By judythemorgan|2020-10-31T22:16:24-05:00November 2nd, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

It’s November. Time to change our clocks off daylight saving time. Did you remember or were you an hour early to church or work or wherever you needed to be?

I’ve been an hour early or an hour late more than once myself. To help remember we change our clocks on Saturday evening after supper. We have lots of clocks and it’s a pain, but we haven’t been late since we started making the switch early.

The whole process makes me grouchy. One more irritation in a 2020 filled with irritations.

To me, the whole idea of daylight saving time is a waste. We’re not saving daylight. The hour we lose is gone forever. The sun rises and sets the same way it always has no matter what we do with our clocks.

Katherine Dutro, spokesperson for the Indiana Farm Bureau, says, “It is a gimmick that changes the relationship between ‘Sun’ time and ‘clock’ time but saves neither time nor daylight.”

I agree and I don’t think I’m alone being anti-DST.

These mandated time changes make our body and brain sluggish unnecessarily because our internal circadian clocks synchronize based upon the natural cycles of sunrise and sunset. Not some legislated time ordinance originally designed to make better use of natural daylight.

Statistics back up the concerns about DST changes. A rise in suicide happens around the changes whether we’re springing forward or falling back. Risk of heart attack rises 5% to 15% during the shifting days, and a walloping 24% risk increase the day after the big switches. More car accidents and more ER visits are also reported.

DST was established to save energy. In the 21st century we use energy 24/7 not just during daylight hours, the case when DST was initiated. Saving energy, I don’t think so.

A Lakotah chief once put it more succinctly: ‘Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.’

Crazy isn’t it? I’d vote to do away with DST and go back to sun time. How about you?

And, speaking of voting…if you haven’t already,

GO VOTE tomorrow.

4 Triggers to Jumpstart your Writing Time

By judythemorgan|2013-11-04T06:00:53-06:00November 4th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Another November has rolled around, which means…

Daylight saving time started unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Did you remember to set your clocks back?

We did. Unfortunately, my internal clock didn’t get the message. I’m up at 4 a.m. because my body knows it’s really 5 a.m.

November is also National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Currently 258,733 novelist have officially signed on to complete a first draft novel with the goal of 50,000 words by the end of the month.

Not to be outdone, NON-fiction writers have their own challenge, Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN), also known as National Nonfiction Writing Month (NaNonFiWriMo)

Other writers become caught up in the spirit of the writing challenge and commit to penning 50,000 words this month through their writing groups.

Flipping the calendar to November is the signal that the holidays are fast approaching. One look at a Christmas Countdown clock and my pulse accelerates in anticipation and dread.

Fifty days until Christmas? Yikes. I’m so far behind.

If you celebrate Hanukah, your clicking counter is less. Hanukah is much closer than you think. For the first time since 1888, Thanksgiving and Hanukah converge. You’re looking at less than twenty-four days to be ready! Click here for an accurate count.

Holidays can disrupt your regular writing schedule and stifle your muse. Participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge may be all you need to motivate yourself.

On the other hand, even if you’ve joined NaNoWriMo and set a goal, you may need to give yourself a nudge to get into writing on some days.

With so many holiday preparations pulling for my time and energy, I find when I do notch out writing time I need to psych my muse into cooperating.

Four methods work to put my brain in writing mode.

1. Establish a ritual – a trigger to use right before you begin a writing session. Something that will coax your brain into the writing routine and you won’t have to make a decision on whether or not to write. You just will.

A trigger might be moving into a special area to write or sipping a cup of tea.

I brew a cup of Irish breakfast tea or grab a water bottle and go into my office.

Naturally, Toby follows and positions his very large body in the kneehole of my desk. That’s a trigger for me, but not one you can share.

Sorry.

2. Begin a writing session by quieting your mind.
Tis the season to clutter our minds with lists and busyness. Pause. Do some journaling or read a devotional to clear your mind before you start writing.

3. Engage in physical activity.
I’m not suggesting a full workout at the gym here. Only a few minutes of sun salutation and deep breathing yoga exercises or ten minutes of calisthenics to jumpstart the endorphins that lead to creativity.

A walk can work as well. That’s what I do. Toby and Buster love when I hook up those leases and walk to work through plot issues or jog my creativity.

4. Involve your senses.
Play soft music or light a scented candle, even a dish of scented soap on your desk can be a trigger for the muse.

YOUR TURN: Do you have a trigger that puts you in writing mode?