Spring should feel a bit closer today. Clocks sprung forward this morning.
The country’s regulation of time stems from the U.S. railroad industry. Back in 1883, the industry established time zones to give departures and arrivals some sense of order. Before that, city’s adopted times, willy nilly.
In 1918, congress passed a law to make time zones a permanent thing. Daylight savings was also a part of that act, but it was repealed the following year. Since then, it has been up to individual jurisdictions to opt in or out of the system. Arizona and Hawaii opted out. Puerto Rico had no part of it. A few cities along time zone borders opted out, effectively hop scotching from one time zone to the next as surrounding areas observed daylight savings.
You will hear many grumble that they lost an hour of sleep, thanks to Daylight Savings. We recommend you, instead, look at that glass as half-full.
Daylight Savings gave us an extra hour of sunlight today. Take advantage of it by going for a walk tonight at around 6 p.m.
When 7 p.m. rolls around, find a cozy spot on a porch and enjoy the sunset. Sure, you will most likely have to bundle up, but you can still find some enjoyment in the knowledge that this is one more sign that spring is just around the corner.