Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Daylight Savings Time

Posted to OGR on 03/06/2010

Next Sunday (March 14th) we all set our clocks forward one hour as Daylight Savings Time (DST) heralds the coming of spring six days later. Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist. DST was introduced in the US back in 1918 during the First World War. The war's end swung the pendulum back as farmers continued to dislike DST, and many countries repealed it after the war. DST came back during the Second World War. Since the late 60’s DST has been with us more than not. There has been much debate about DST over the years; does it save energy as proponents initially argued? Probably not. Does it provide more time in the summer evenings for outdoor recreation? Probably so, especially the farther North you go. In fact, most areas that employ DST today are in northern latitudes. There is very little DST in equatorial regions.

I have mixed feelings about DST. I hate the disruption to my diurnal clock when it starts and ends. But I love the extra day time in the evenings despite waking up and starting my day in the dark. My love affair with the longer evenings started back when I was doing a Top 40 Radio Show on AM radio. In order to prevent interference at night, most AM stations have to significantly reduce power at sundown. During DST that meant that I had more “air time” at the higher power and reached a bigger audience. My show was broadcast from a booth in the parking lot of a drive in restaurant that was enclosed on three sides by large plate glass windows. It was great seeing the kids grooving to the music I was playing, loosening up and having fun. When it got dark, I couldn’t see nearly as much of what was going on in the parking lot as I could during the day. There is something about the late evening sunlight, grass is greener, shadows are deeper, and the world is a little bit prettier. Oh MY!

DJGlee will have a special theme on Music Therapy this week; "I'll get by With A Little Help from My Friends" featuring music by groups/artists that he played with and got to know. Tune in on Wednesday and Thursday 7 – 9 PM Eastern time!


Copyright 2010 Rick Wrigley

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