After years of bad legislation the fact that Congress has passed an energy bill that includes a four week extension of Daylight Savings Time is very welcome news. Daylight Savings Time is a wonderful invention of modern times. Who but Scrooge himself could fault a day that lasts into the evening hours?
Sunshine is uplifting. After a long day’s work, heading home in daylight hours can give one a second wind. Walking the dog, pulling weeds in the back yard, or jogging around one’s neighborhood are all real possibilities. Just sitting in a lounge chair on the deck can be exhilarating following a stressful day at work.
Driving home in the dark is depressing. It seems as if the day has ended before one has been allowed to do anything fun. After all, the possibilities for evening hours are very limited for those of us no longer young or single. Who wants to shop and return to a darkened parking lot space? A jog in the dark holds little promise of health or recreation. There are, of course, the options of surfing the internet or channel surfing on one’s vast cable television network. But such activities provide little variety from the activities of one’s work day.
Give us Daylight Savings Time, sunshine and outdoor activities. And make those long daylight hours last for a greater part of the year. Thank you Congress! You’ve finally given us something that we want and need.