Time’s a Tickin’
"Why is there time change anyway?" my daughter asked. Our plan was to hike up to Hoyes Crest on Sunday after church. Hoyes Crest is the highest point in MD. At 3360 ft above sea level, it's not the biggest hill in the world. But it's a nice little hike and a pretty view at the top with a really cool beach tree that has more names carved into it than any tree that I've ever seen. I'm not an advocate of carving trees or spray painting rocks in the wild places of America, but this tree did look cool. My kids' names weren't on it and I didn't see any fresh carvings so that was a good thing. I'm always amazed by how a beech can carry those scars almost forever but continue to grow like nothing ever happened.
Back to the clock. After eating some lunch, running Caleb to robotics and doing all of those little details and time consuming tasks that seem to slink their way into a restful Sunday, time slipped by more quickly than we expected. I looked at the clock and it said 3:30 PM. "We better get going or it will soon be dark" I said, not realizing that the clock hadn't been turned back the night before to adjust for time change. After adjusting the clock and figuring out that we did have time to do our hike, was when Aiyana asked the question, " why do we change time anyway?"
And why do we?
Are we really controlled by a little man made clock? Chickens and turkeys get up with the sun and go to bed when the sun goes down. Shouldn't we do the same?
Now this may not line up with what Google says, but I'd bet it started back when my dad was a kid. Back then a lot of young boys were trapping skunks and muskrats and such and missing school to run your trapline wasn't a big deal to most. But with the country progressing so rapidly and everyone getting smarter, someone with a brighter look into the future must have seen the detrimental effect that the later sunrise was having on the kids who were trapping instead of focusing on the future of our country. These geniuses recognized the need for time change. By changing our clocks back one hour, these boys would be able to check their traps and get an education, all at the same time. Even though my dad only made it through the eighth grade, some of the others went on to be congressmen and lawyers and such and we continually reap the benefits of that decision today!
It's easy to complain and wonder what the point of daylight savings time even is. On the other hand, there are always some benefits to any change. We just need to look for them and be sure to use them to our advantage.
For me, the early sunset means longer evenings inside with the family. More card games, popcorn and chit chat.
And to give my writing a purpose, I ask, how will you use yours?
