Last weekend we set our clocks back one hour to officially end what is known as Daylight Savings Time (DST.) Which in name alone is the silliest thing a person could ever say as no matter how you tally up the hours in a day, you can't save any for future use.  A Native American when told about DST said, “only a white man can believe that if you cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it on the bottom that you would be left with a longer blanket.” And he was exactly right as days are just 24 hours long no matter how you slice it or dice it. 

Saving daylight has been long desired by people and goes way back in history with even Benjamin Franklin suggesting people rise earlier with the proverb “early to bed early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” He also suggested that Parisians cut down on candle use by rising earlier in the day and getting things done. 

A New Zealand man by the name of George Hudson first proposed DST in 1895 as he had an after-work hobby of collecting bugs and wanted more time to do so in the evenings. And another man, William Willett took up the same cause in 1907 because he wanted more time to golf in the evenings. Ol' Dutch had always heard it was supposedly set in motion to help farmers get more work done but that appears to be just all smoke and mirrors to get it passed through Congress and is actually implemented to help us catch bugs and play golf. Who woulda guessed? 

DST comes about in the Spring of the year as the days grow warmer and daylight longer due to the tilt of the earth against the sun. So even though the day is no longer we do enjoy longer times of sunlight depending on our location in relation to the equator. But come fall and the threat of winter here in the U.S.A., we tilt away from the Sun and our daylight is chopped down considerably and we then find ourselves driving home from work in the dark at 5 p.m. after they end DST. 

But some people really mess up with the time changes and they just cannot seem to get it right no matter how many times they go through it. I can recall one Sunday in the Spring when DST started and a couple came barging into church, went all the way to the front row scattering coats and gloves as they went only to have the pastor say, “you are dismissed.” For you see, they had missed the memo about DST and setting their clocks forward and got to church just when it ended. The pastor in question just happened to be my father Fast Freddy and I still think to this day he may not have been done but wanted to find the funny in the day. 

I guess the best thing about the clock changes now for Ol’ Dutch is our phones and clocks all seem smart enough to change for us which saved me from having Miss Trixie change them all. I really don't notice any difference when it does change either as since I retired, I go to bed when I want and get up when I want. 

But others complain about it year after year and there is even talk about doing away with DST altogether as I guess farmers have headlights now on their tractors, all the bugs have been collected and golfers can just go pound sand. Or some such reasons. 

With the changing of the clocks this Fall, Ol’ Dutch did find himself in the house earlier in the evening and so I decided to take the opportunity to watch some baseball. Imagine my surprise to find out the World Series had actually ended a week prior, and I was now left out in the cold and dark. 

So, I guess I am actually left with a short blanket like the old Indian said. No wonder my feet are cold. 

Kevin Kirkpatrick spends his days fishing, hunting, ATVing, hiking or making people laugh. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.