Rites of Spring: Daylight Savings Time and banishing Winter.

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | March 10, 2018

No. 1,440

Although the pond may still be frozen solid, Daylight Savings promises it won’t stay that way too long.

We live in the Age of Reason, a time when we no longer believe in superstitious practices.  But we follow plenty of them anyway because they are still part of us. Sometimes we ignore the illogic.  Sometimes we laugh at ourselves.  But we do what we do because it makes us feel better.

And so, when Daylight Savings Time arrives we drive Winter away  by the ritual of turning the clocks forward.  As we move further into the electronic age, we have fewer and fewer clocks that require any effort to reset. But that hardly matters. We still go through the symbolic process of putting an hour into an imaginary savings account, to be withdrawn and spent when the darkness of Winter returns.

Yes, there are always curmudgeons who complain about losing sleep.  And of course there is a simple solution to that — go to bed early, take a nap, take two naps.

Early this morning, the sidewalks were filled with walkers, runners, dog-walkers — all bundled up because it is still rather cold. But the pending onset of Daylight Savings seems to have triggered the primeval  force within the subconscious mind that propels us into celebrating the change of Seasons.

After all, I hear we are descended from species who survived Winter by hibernation.  How much of those instincts are still buried deep inside the ancient regions of the brain?

Enough of that! Its time to awake!

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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