Saturday, March 7, 2009

Set your clocks AHEAD tonight for Daylight Savings Time . . .

Spring forward, fall back. I always have to say this to myself when adjusting the time before I go to bed when daylight savings time begins or ends. It officially begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning when most of us will be fast asleep. Luckily all of our electronic devices such as computers, cable boxes and DVRs will reset themselves automatically. We'll have to do our clocks and watches manually.

Did you know we have Benjamin Franklin to thank for this unnatural thing? It all happened while he was living in Paris.

Ben Franklin couldn’t abide wastefulness. Les Parisiens, he complained, stayed up late into the night and awoke at noon, wasting 96 million pounds of wax and tallow each year because they squandered daylight.

He proposed a mandatory awakening at 4 a.m. from mid-spring to mid-fall, an idea that laid the groundwork for our twice-a year time change. He even suggested posting guards outside shops to prevent people from buying candles.

“Every morning, as soon as the sun rises, let all the bells in every church be set ringing,” he proposed in 1784. “And if that is not sufficient, let a cannon be fired in every street to wake the sluggards effectually.”

So, if you wake up groggy Sunday, just remember that it could be worse. Cannon fire could have roused you.

I think it's too early this year so I am not a fan! What about you?



Content in a Cottage

2 comments:

DomesticDivasFancy said...

I always hate changing the clocks...I have always wondered why. Great history.

Millie said...

Trust dear old Ben! Yes, we have great controversy here each year about the timing of Daylight Savings. I'm a bit of a heretic as I love DS & all its benefits. But then again I don't have cows to milk or toddlers to get to bed - thank goodness!
Millie ^_^