We are in the midst of an early spring, watching Bartlett pear and redbud trees bloom, and green leaves peek from their buds on trees here and there, hoping that a hard freeze won’t show up to set back the progress of plant life in bringing in the changing season, but fearing it will happen.
Spring will not “officially” be with us until Monday, with the arrival of the equinox. In the meantime, we today celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and hope the early spring will last. Indeed, for me, St. Patrick’s Day has not only meant a day I can rejoice in being at least partly Irish, but also a signal that the season is about to change. As a rule of thumb, I’ve figured that if we make it to St. Pat’s without a major snowfall, we’re not going to get one.
Another sign of spring, one of entirely legal construction and having little or no relation to nature, took place last weekend. Last Sunday, we switched over to daylight saving time. The day before, I reset my watch and most of the clocks in the house to the “new” time, and turned on the setting for daylight saving time on the clock in my automobile. My theory is that if I get used to the day being an hour further along the day before, the change won’t be such a shock to the system.
That ploy has yielded mixed results at best. I don’t think I’m much different from most people. Most of us like the extended daylight hours once we make the adjustment, but it takes us awhile to adjust. Critics of daylight saving time say that it’s not safe and point to the increased number of automobile accidents the country sees the Monday after daylight saving time lands on us on Sunday. Many others just want to eliminate the whole “spring forward, fall back” process and either do away with daylight saving time or make it year round. “Pick one and stick with it,” is a slogan I’ve heard many times.
Tennessee is one of a number of states that have passed legislation that would make daylight saving time “permanent” — that is, lasting all year long. Such legislation can’t take effect, however, without federal approval, which so far has not been forthcoming.
I suppose it’s not high up on the list of congressional priorities. But I think it’s something many of us would like to see.
The justification for daylight saving time was originally to provide more daylight hours for farmers and other outdoor workers during the warmer months of the year. I suppose that’s still important to some people.
The justification for ending daylight time in November has been to prevent school children from having to wait for the school buses in the dark during cold weather. If this is still a concern to parents, I haven’t seen it. The Tennessee act to make daylight time year round didn’t get much pushback. But then, just how much do most of us keep up with what is going on in the General Assembly? Not much, I think.
Anyway, I’m still adjusting to the change, thank you very much. But sometime in the next week or two my internal clock will get the message, and I won’t think about it for months. The “new” time will feel right. If we actually do get year-round daylight time, I’ll be fine with it. Writing this column to appear on St. Patrick’s Day, I wondered what the good saint, who was in life a Christian missionary to Ireland way back in the 5th Century, would think about daylight saving time. In a moment, I had the answer: He’d probably ask, “why?” Who in the world would possibly think there’s a need for more daylight hours in the summer, when there are more than enough as it is?
If you look at a map or globe, you’ll see that the British Isles and all of northern Europe are well to the north of the United States. If you travel due east from Ireland, you’ll hit Labrador, close to the land of the midnight sun.
So, in Ireland, there’s practically no night during the summer anyhow. The last thing St. Patrick’s converts needed would have been more daylight in June or July. And there wouldn’t be enough to fool with in December.
Anyway, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. And happy adjusting to daylight time.
Bob Arrington is a Kingsport attorney. E-mail him at
