THAT TIME AGAIN

I suppose that there are numbers - which of course do not lie - that would prove that daylight saving time is singlehandedly saving the planet from destruction. But I doubt it.

It's that time of year when time is the timeliest of subjects and daylight is in short supply. And if we were burning handmade candles for our light we would be shifting our schedules to conform to available light to minimize the burning of the labor intensive wick.

While in Paris in 1784, Benjamin Franklin, proposed some kind of adjustment to the available sunlight rather than adhering to the actual clock time which placed one end or the other of each day in darkness, which, as I have stated, required the consumption of expensive tapers.

While most of us nowadays forgo the use of open flame for light, the same principle holds that we try to conserve the use of expensive energy.

Just between you and me, I dislike the time changes we go through twice a year. It is, however, hard to argue with the saving of 10,000 barrels of oil through the use of the time shift as was reported during the oil embargo in the 70s.

Sifting the work day into the daylight portion of the day became an issue during war time to conserve energy. In the 40s it was called Eastern War Time, Central War Time and Western War Time. As a young teenager then, I remember vividly how everything was defined by the war. Everything.

What I remember about all this as a boy is a bus ride home from a music lesson downtown Baton Rouge at 5 PM in total darkness. I didn't even wear a watch then. I couldn't have cared less, as I recall. I always seemed to arrive at my appointed destination on time. Is there a lesson there?

Anyway, we are now on what I call real time. The time that is set by celestial pulleys and chains, set in motion by the hand of God, or Goddess, I am sure. And we'll muddle through with that until darkness falls in the middle of the afternoon next month. If I were not such a dignified old man, I'd scream!

I still have to set the clock in my car, on my stove and microwave and coffee maker. Oh the clock at my bedside as well. Better get on with it before it gets dark.