This weekend is daylight savings and to say we are looking forward to it would be a lie. Falling back one hour we can 100% get on board with, but springing forward one hour and losing that hour of sleep? Not our most favourite yearly event.
While springing forward means less sleep the night of, it does mean that our mornings get a little brighter. Has anyone else noticed the birds singing before your alarm clock goes off, or the warm forecast for next week? Apparently nature is ready to spring forward, and for that we cannot complain.
Not everyone recognizes Daylight Savings. Just ask our neighbours to the east; Saskatchewan has chosen to forego all recognition of daylight savings. They're already teasing us about our short night on Saturday/Sunday.
What is the point of Daylight Savings? How important can it be if some places don't even recognize it? "The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (called "Summer Time" in many places in the world) is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening" (History of Daylight Savings).
While "Germany and Austria were the first countries to use DST in 1916, it is a little-known fact that a few hundred Canadians beat the German Empire by 8 years. On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, today's Thunder Bay, turned their clocks forward by 1 hour to start the world's first DST period" (Time & Date). They got the idea from ancient civilizations who we have evidence did the same thing hundreds of years ago.
Love it or hate it, it is happening this weekend. Don't forget!
(Photo created via Canva)
Posted by Ken Richter on
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