Well, as most of you know the time has come to “spring forward”! This is designed to give us all an extra hour of daylight. Benjamin Franklin is credited with the original concept that came to be known as Daylight Saving Time, when we “spring ahead,” or turn the clocks ahead an hour around springtime, according to Wikipedia. It was initially intended for people to get the most out of the natural daylight so they could burn fewer candles and later, use less electricity.
This is a good time to enjoy the out-of-doors. As the days get longer and warmer, it is a good time to get active.
Ways You Can Spend the Extra Hour
Find out what's happening in Temple Terracewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
- Start seeds for a springtime organic garden.
- Try a few yoga poses.
- Exercise with your pet.
- Go for a leisurely bike ride.
- Yard work.
- Walking.
- Get a jump on spring cleaning.
- Shopping.
While most of the country runs on Daylight Saving Time today, with the exception of Hawaii, a state with nearly equal day length year-round, and Arizona, which refuses to adopt it, things weren’t always this uniform, according to Wikipedia.
Initially adopted as a wartime-only policy, New York decided to bring Daylight Saving Time back after World War I and adopted a metropolitan Daylight Saving Time law for the city only in 1920. Cities ran on it, suburbs did not. Being such a powerful influence on the economy, almost every city from Chicago adopted it. By 1921, only Massachusetts had a statewide policy. All of this left a patchwork of times across the country for the next 10 years. This patchwork wreaked havoc with transportations schedules making it difficult to keep up. It has taken until 2006 to get to the levels of DST usage that this country currently has.
Find out what's happening in Temple Terracewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
No matter what you do with your extra time, make it count! Spend it wisely with family, friends or doing something for yourself! Happy Spring and don’t forget to set your clocks AHEAD before going to bed Saturday night (3/10/2012) because daylight savings time arrives at 2am Sunday morning! Spring Forward!
Elizabeth Sullivan is the co-owner of Lady Ashley Designs, a store that specializes in gifts for all occasions, including spring time.