We have recently all sprung forward.
Our clocks, that is.
Our time pieces have leapt ahead a full hour, to mark Daylight Savings Time.
A time honoured tradition, pun intended, to ostensibly help save energy and money, among other things.
But perhaps, not so much.
It seems the loss of an hours sleep means a lot.
Research has shown that a sleep disruption of just one hour contributes to an increase in traffic accidents, heart attacks, and workplace injuries.
It apparently also leads to lethargy, grumpiness, and a desire to nap.
In fact, the Monday after the start of Daylight Savings Time is traditionally known as National Nap Day.
And it seems there are economic consequences as well.
The stock markets reportedly don’t do so great on the Monday following the switch to Daylight Savings Time.
So despite all the good intentions, the negatives may outweigh any perceived positives.
And, perhaps because of that, there are some holdouts around the world who refuse to take the leap, so to speak.
The entire province of Saskatchewan, and some communities in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec all refuse to budge. Some African and Asian countries don’t take part, and the European Union is thinking of giving it up altogether by 2021.
First proposed by none other than Ben Franklin back in the 1700’s, it wasn’t until 1966 that Daylight Savings became widely accepted. There are now more than 70 countries around the world that make the switch.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about the end of the day, because it actually becomes a little brighter.
And eventually, in just a few weeks, the long days stretch into my favourite day, June 21st, the first day of Summer, a.k.a. the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, with dusk finally settling in around 9:30.
And, as they sing in the movie Grease, “Oh, those Summer nights!”
The warm Summer evenings of August, when the bugs have dissipated, and lounging outside just to feel the warm air on one’s skin is divine.
So that, for me, is a good trade off.
I don’t know about saving energy or money, but those long Summer evenings are all worth it.
Yes, I am fully grumpy and out of sorts for the entire week after Daylight Savings Time. Who wants to have a brighter evening when there is still nothing but snow and cold weather outside.
But the thought of the Summer ahead makes it all worth it.
Those early Summer mornings with the dawn breaking at 5 a.m., and all the birds heralding the start of the day.
That would be 4 a.m. if we did not switch to Daylight Savings.
And those Summer evenings would be dark at 8:30 if we didn’t leap ahead.
So, to me, those are all the right reasons.
Well worth the temporary disruption, because the reward will be reaped in due time.