What Are We Saving For?

Is anyone else exhausted? It’s only midway through the week (last week to you all) so perhaps I’ll still adjust, but I’m all out of whack.

I realize I get up at an insane hour (4:30 a.m.) anyway, but now it feels like rising in the dead of night. And I know what the problem is — I can’t get to bed early enough because the sun’s still shining! I’m an eight hour girl. Any less and I feel like I’m slogging through mud with my clothes on just to make it through the day.

I take my cues from nature. I start thinking about dinner at dusk. But now, it doesn’t occur to me to stop working until 8:00 p.m. and I’m not done eating until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.! Screwy, I tell you.

And the logic behind this madness? Politicians wanted the country to conserve energy around the First World War. (Really, there’s talk that our president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, just wanted to play golf into the evening hours. That’s a bit selfish don’t you think?)

Seriously, any benefit there might have been 100 years ago is outweighed by the fact that people now run their air conditioners longer, actually using more energy. And it’s dangerous to human health! Studies have shown there’s a spike in traffic accidents as the entire country runs around on dark morning roads groggy and sleep-deprived. And more importantly, farmers are reporting that their cows are definitely unhappy with the shift. They don’t like waiting an extra hour to be milked. Come on, people. Care about the cows.

Frankie, at least, remains unconcerned with it all. He doesn’t take his cues from nature. I think he takes them from me. Mr. Bionic Ears wakes when he hears me up, regardless of how quiet I think I am. So I still have to let him out of his crate at 7:00 a.m.  It doesn’t matter to him that it’s pitch-black outside, and crickets are chirping instead of birds. He trots out all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, looking expectantly at his leash when there’s no way I can safely walk him for at least another half-hour.

Don’t get me wrong, I like sunshine as much as the next person. So why don’t we make this time the only time? It’s the back and forth that drives me crazy. Pick one already and stop the insanity! Until that happens, I guess I’ll trudge on. I just might be an hour late.