The temperature here in the Atlanta area is probably not going to crack fifty today. It’s wet and rainy. And that’s okay. I actually love days like today. They are days to stay indoors, get projects done, cook comfort food, enjoy a hot beverage, a warm toddy, or just stay by the fire. Unless you are out there in it, the weather on days like today can be very soothing. Georgia is notorious for not really having autumn, going straight from summer to winter. I am afraid this is going to be one of those years. We were teased with a few days in September and October that were perfect fall days, the high skies, the changing leaves and the cool air, but those days were fleeting. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago temperatures were in the eighties, then boom, arctic blast. Some years we are blessed with the fall weather lingering through November and even into early December. That’s not going to happen this year, at least not according to the extended forecasts on weatherchannel.com and in The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Besides, even though winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21st, as far as I’m concerned it begins the day after Thanksgiving, at midnight to be specific. That is when Black Friday commences, the rush of holiday madness is on and it’s every man for himself.
In the midst of all this, we Fall Back. That, of course, is when the time changes from Daylight Savings to Standard and throws the world into further confusion. Just about the time we get used to it, in March we Spring Forward and it all happens again. It really doesn’t mess with my inner clock too much. But my lovely wife Jackie, is a completely different story altogether. Both time changes throw her bio-rhythms all out of whack, as well as the dogs. They are now demanding loudly to be fed at seven in the morning and three in the afternoon, as opposed to the more normal times of eight and four. The birds are affected, too. I love to stand at the window and watch them feed, but it seems as if now they have abandoned us. I go to the window at four in the afternoon and there is not a bird in sight. The ear of corn placed on the squirrel feeder is still relatively untouched. Usually it’s gone in about an hour. “It’s pretty bad when the squirrels abandon you,” I distraughtly wailed to Jackie. I then thought it must have been something I did, checked my personal hygiene and re-assessed my thoughts and actions from the previous weeks.
Yesterday, after being gently reminded at three o’clock, I fed the dogs and went to the window. There were no birds at first, but then a few chickadees and wrens came to the little feeder that hangs outside the window. Then came the mourning doves, cardinals, woodpeckers and bluebirds to the feeders in the yard. Mr. Squirrel even climbed the tree, sat down on the seat and began working on the ear of corn. I stood happily watching them when suddenly it dawned on me that they didn’t Spring Forward or Fall Back. All they knew was that it was feeding time and apparently this time of year it’s at three in the afternoon.
I have always wondered why we don’t just do away with it altogether, Spring Forward and leave it there. I found out a year or so ago that doing so would literally require an act of Congress. Due to the fact that Standard Time is the normal time and Daylight Savings was passed by Congress and signed into law in ’66, it would require another vote to do away with it. And the way Congress is getting along these days, I can’t see an amendment to Daylight Savings sailing right through. So for the time being (no pun intended), we will have to continue adjusting both our alarm and body clocks, even though the dogs and the birds can’t be bothered.