Time again to Spring forward

Good morning!

It’s 7 a.m.

Or is it 8 a.m.?

Wait a moment while I consult the magic rhyme I’ve recited in my head since the custom of keeping track of time started to matter to me.

“Spring forward … Fall back.”

I’m sure I have that correct. Spring back … Fall forward sounds like what happens at frat parties or comedy shows. Though I can admit, my sense of time being of importance only began to mature between adolescence (when I lettered in sleeping past noon) and undergrad (when bar hopping was my preferred sport) and an 8 a.m. survey class might be the only drawback.

But that was then and this is now: A few decades later when sleep is a thing that happens after you sit down but before you are determined to turn in. And when time doesn’t seem to have a clear direction. Some might even feel its suspension.

For me, this time is also and marked by having the annual argument in an attempt to convince the resident husband that an hour of sleep will disappear into the wee hours of the morning, not to be seen again until Fall.

It also means engaging in the semi-annual argument about leaving off the extra S in Daylight Saving or whether we are returning to the Standard Time. We could steer all usage to a simple directive: “It’s Time To Change Your Clock,” and be done with it.

However, if we did that, would there be any room for the semi-annual discussions of leaving the time as it is year-round?

Or would we end forever all argument about whether this practice came about as an ancient farming technique, or an energy-saving construct, or a simple ruse to allow executives more time on the links after a long day at the office?

Would we be able to wrap our heads around how time refuses to stand still? Would you miss that crazy clock illustration, with its wings and its spinning, confused face?

But the answer is yes … even with this children’s illustrated explanation, we will argue forward can’t mean “losing” and going back has the opposite meaning of gaining - for perhaps the 18th in the history of our history together.

And I will resort to scouring the house for an antiquated clock I can manipulate to show that moving the hands of a clock forward (especially when you’ve just turned 21) loses you a solid hour of imbibing between midnight and four a.m.

At midnight you go directly to 1 a.m. in Boston they’d start talking about Last Call.

Of course, you’d forget to set your alarm clock. You’d miss a class in the morning. Or you’d get to the car and have an existential crisis. Am I late?

Eventually, even this argument will be one we have only for Old Time’s sake.

Eventually, it will reset as NatureTM intended … which in modern times means the Apple product that sleeps next to your bed, and which (we can admit) is the first thing we greet in the morning upon awakening, will have already made the transition for you.