Just a thought

Ahhh, the vagaries of spring—one day you’re sun tanning and then shovelling out from a blizzard practically the next.
One sign of spring most everyone looks forward to is the arrival of Daylight Savings Times—the second Sunday in March when the majority of us set our clocks ahead one hour so as to enjoy more light in the evenings albeit at the expense of skies being darker in the mornings (at least for the first little bit).
Who doesn’t get an extra spring in their step when the sun suddenly is setting after 7 p.m. after those long winter months?
But not everyone is a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. People growl about losing an hour’s sleep and its impact on our natural circadian rhythms while experts annually offer advice on how to get kids adjusted to the new time.
Apparently there also are documented health risks to “springing forward,” as well as a jump in things like car accidents. And some even question whether Daylight Savings Time really provides any benefits in terms of lower energy consumption.
In fact, there’s growing movement afoot to get rid of Daylight Savings Time altogether, with news that California currently is weighing a bill to ban the nearly 100-year-old tradition.
Here in Rainy River District, Atikokan doesn’t observe the time change—being on Eastern time in the winter months and then Central time during the summer. And, of course, the entire province of Saskatchewan eschews it, as well.
If the decision to axe “spring forward/fall back” ever does come to pass some day, there’s a good argument for simply staying on “daylight” time year-round. Yes, it would make for much later sunrises in the dead of winter but surely most would see that as a good trade-off for an extra hour of daylight in the afternoon.
It even might offer relief for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
And when you think about it, “daylight” time actually runs much longer than “standard” time (some 34 weeks compared to only about 18). So, really, what is “standard” time nowadays?
Just a thought.