I grew up in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is known for many things. The Roughriders play football there. The terrain is mostly flat. It is largely rural and small cities. It is known for wheat, potash, oil, and being the headquarters of the Mounted Police. Another thing it is known for is that most of the province does not practise Daylight Saving Time but remains on standard time all year long. The saying goes that the cows don't change time so why should we.
Being on standard time meant a few things. We had to get up in the dark during winter. We also had to think when we phoned out of promise what time it was over there. The vast majority of North America had changed time and we had not. One day we were the same time as Calgary; the next day we were the same time as Winnipeg.
When I got to seminary, I had to change clocks for the first time because of Daylight savings. I can't say I was happy that October day (the time changed then at the end of October rather than early November) when the sky started getting dark at 4:30pm. People said, "Oh we get an extra hour of sleep," but I realized that wasn't quite so. I might have got up an hour later but I went to bed an hour later. For one night, I might have "gained" an hour but my sleep patterns would take a few days to adjust to my new routine. With the time change it meant that I would be spending an extra hour at night in the dark.
Changing the clocks forward was a bit easier for me. However, I know the spring time change is problematic as well. I have just got used to the fact that when I wake up in the morning I don't need to turn the lights on in order to see. The days have been getting longer and longer; the sunrises earlier and earlier. Now for a few weeks at least, the lights will have to be turned on in the morning.
It was easier in Saskatchewan. I knew that from December 21st on, the morning sky would be a bit brighter each morning until the first day of summer. Then each day the sun would get up later until winter came around once more. There was no artificial change come November or March when suddenly the sun arbitrarily rises an hour later or earlier. There was no jarring interruption of my life; no adaptations needed to be made in my routine due to artificial clock changes. It would be wonderful if the government decided to end this clock switching. I don't even care if it decided to adopt permanent standard time or permanent daylight time. Either would be better than this time travel every year. Blessings.
