The Briar Philospher - Time to Adapt

I am once again tired of the time change. This morning finds me dragging a bit, but I’ll adjust in a week or so. It would have been so easy to stay in bed this morning. It was still somewhat dark outside the window, and the covers felt so good in the somewhat cool air. But duty called. I didn’t want to answer, but then who does? Now I sit here with a tired brain, writing. I hope y’all will forgive me if the column itself seems a bit sluggish. 

One of the things that has always confused me about Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the fact that it starts at 2 a.m. I just couldn’t think of any logical reason for that, so I looked it up and learned something. It’s quite interesting, so I thought I would share it with you. 

Back when DST was first introduced during World War I, it was one of the few times when trains weren’t running. The original clock time of the DST change was picked to minimize a major concern at the time: potential collisions of trains if one train adjusts for DST and a crossing train does not.  Sunday at 2 a.m. was the quietest hour of the week, making it the safest choice. It was also a practical middle ground between midnight—when changing the clocks would shift the date—and later in the morning, when early-shift workers and churchgoers could be affected. 

So, now you know. I don’t know if anyone actually ever changes their clocks at 2:00 a.m. We always wait until Sunday morning proper to change our clocks. Of course, the computers and phones update automatically. Whatever the reason for all of it in the beginning, I personally don’t see much of a need for it anymore, and I’m a member of the “End Daylight Saving Time” group. We aren’t a formal group. We just gripe about it every Spring and every Fall for a few days and then get back into the routine as our bodies and minds adjust to the change. As has been the case for several years in a row, a bill has been introduced in KY to end DST. Such measures have been tried before and failed to pass. Maybe this time it will. If those of you who would like to see an end to it would call your Representatives and Senators, that would help. 

On another note, the sun is shining and spring-like temperatures are forecast for many of the days ahead, though Spring proper won’t be here for a bit. My willow tree has leafed out, and several other things are beginning to awaken. I don’t have anything in the ground yet, but I will soon. Need to get a lettuce bed in and plant some onions. Hopefully, this year will be a better garden year than last year was. We could do without the heavy, heavy rain that rotted my potatoes in the ground last year. We could also do without the sweltering heat coupled with unbreathable humidity that followed, and the drought that followed that. Of course, we have no control over any of that. We just have to adapt to what comes in much the same way we have to adapt to the time change, like it or not, for now at least. 

My own favorite philosopher, Socrates, spoke a lot about adaptation, believing that to be able to adapt to change is one of the most important things a human being can do. In truth, the ability of the human species to adapt to change is the reason we’re still here. We had to adapt to different geography, climate, food sources, and many other things, and still managed to people pretty much every corner of the globe. (Yes, to say “corner of the globe” seems silly as globes have no corners.  It is used as a metaphor for the entire Earth, historically related to the four cardinal points or winds.) Had we not been able to adapt as well as we did, the human race might well have been a very short-lived species. 

According to Socrates and many others, the key to adaptation is not to get too emotionally invested in the way things were. That keeps our minds from thinking of ways forward and roots us too deeply in the past. We must, of course, take the lessons learned from the past into account as we decide how to move forward. With the time change, it’s really not a big deal, but we all face many changes as life goes along. Some of them are more difficult to adapt to than others. Losing a loved one is certainly much more difficult than adapting to an hour earlier or an hour later each spring and fall. Learning to cope with the unpredictable weather patterns is somewhere in between, but could certainly rise to a higher level as things shift north. Some things moving north won’t have much of an effect on our daily lives for some time. However, some of those things can alter our local ecosystem in a bad way, including the destructive southern pine beetle, various mosquito species, ticks, the spotted lanternfly, and the new-world screwworm. Lord help us if the fire ants move to Kentucky. Having lived in Florida and experiencing the devastation the pine beetle can cause, as well as the pain of many fire ant stings, I can tell you we don’t want either of those things. We may not have any control over it, but we sure need to be thinking of ways to adapt to it now. 

I hope you all have a great week ahead and that the storms that are coming will only wake up the trees and not knock any of them down. 

Be kind. Be helpful and always check on your neighbors.