Spring Forward and Fall Back

A familiar expression by now, for all the folks who live in an area where day light savings is observed- "Spring Forward and Fall Back". Quite a useful mnemonic, when you try to remember which direction the clock's hands need to be moved. There are revellers, who spend that extra hour on the Saturday night in late October, and curse the Gods for the lost hour in April.

A bunch of friends and I, were taking advantage of that precise extra hour this past Saturday, and was wondering, how does it benefit? Why not have all days observe daylight savings? Why confuse folks? And if there are places that do not observe - that do just fine, why do we bother?

Well, all good questions, and it was quite shameful, that after 10 years of life in the United States, I did not have a clear answer for this. So, the curious cat in me went plodding for answers. Is "googling" officially a word yet?

Voila! It is all about conserving energy. The spring forward, essentially makes the sun set later, hence you get home late, and the time to bed from that point is shorter - by an hour to be precise - so you switch off your TVs, lights, etc., and hit the sack sooner! As simple as that.

There are some good links that gave a more detailed explanation and a history of daylight savings. One of them below:

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/aboutdst.html

As for me, my clock quickly adjusts to whatever time it is. I tell myself I should utilize this extra hour, to get to work early and make it a habit, but it has never worked. It is still a morning rush, as if nothing changed!