Return of the Dark Season

 The end of October marks the transition to the dark season, with the return to Standard Time this weekend. As a result, sunset moves from the 6 PM hour to the 5 PM hour. This change means that Sunday, November 2, will be a 25-hour day, with the 1 AM hour repeating. While it may seem like we’re getting an extra hour of sleep, the reality is quite different.

I refer to this period as the Dark Season because the early sunsets leave us living our entire evenings in darkness. Before I retired, I recall days when I would go to work and return home in complete darkness, never seeing the Sun.

I remember one Sunday when I was a kid that our entire family was up and out as usual on Sunday morning for church. We arrived to find the facility deserted. It took a bit, but Mom and Dad finally figured out that we had forgotten to set our clocks back for the return to Standard Time. We drove back home, relaxed for a bit and then piled into the car to head back to church at the appropriate hour. I wonder how many other families have similar stories?

In response to the problem of springing forward and falling back, legislation called the Sunshine Protection Act was introduced in Congress. The goal of this act is to keep the U.S. on permanent daylight saving time. Unfortunately, this legislation has yet to be enacted.

As a result, we are destined to endure darkness during the late-Autumn and Winter months. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL