Musings - On the editor's mind

Sunday dawned gloriously, the last day of the weekend, the first morning of again waking to standard time. Morning light was behind the curtains around 6:30 a.m., exactly the right time, as Mother Nature made it and intended all days to be.

Standard Time. It comes to us the first Saturday in November, when we set our clocks back an hour for the next four-and-a-half months and our body rhythms again align with the cycle of the earth and the sun.

That is too short a period. Congress shrunk it down from five months almost 20 years ago. Used to be standard time was restored to us the last Sunday in October and lasted till we were fooled into believing we were gaining an hour of daylight the first Sunday in April. That provided at least an extra two weeks of being able to follow the natural rhythm of the world.

For decades my favorite weekend is the one we just enjoyed, the one holding the first Saturday in November, when that hour is restored to us. What a tremendous gift that day is, that chance to pause, to savor the breaths gained, the 60 minutes added to the clock, the chance to slow down, to have additional time that day.

My least favorite weekend of the year comes every March, when we speed ahead to an imposed hour of darkness in the morning.

My list of grievances against our government is long, built over time, and well thought out. My biggest frustration might surprise folks, given all the illegal as well as unjust wars we have fought and the people wrongly harassed, spied on, imprisoned and murdered.

Perhaps because it is so personal and immediate, intruding on me early each new year, I bristle and take umbrage.

The nerve politicians have, when despite all the studies and piles of publications, some continue to put our children’s lives and all of our health in danger.

Most health research, scientific studies, conclude that standard time is better for our kids: fewer are hit by cars in the dark, more sleep means they perform better in school. Here’s a title: “Adverse Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Adolescents’ Sleep and Vigilance.”

For adults: increase in heart attacks by 24 prevent.

The champions of daylight time: economists churning out data counting more profits to be gained – at the expense of our health, as second and especially third shift workers will attest.

When the Washington State Legislature convenes in January, there will again be a bill introduced for year-round standard time. What an opportunity for bi-partisan agreement from our elected officials.

Yes, standardize time, but time as Ma Nature created it: standard time, every day, all the time, the natural rhythms of the Earth.

That’s a crusade, to get politicians to unite, for our good health – and for theirs.