The worst day of the year

This has always been my least favourite day of the year. It used to be the last Sunday of October (and indeed still is in the UK), but at some point while I was back in London, the Canadian government decided to move it to the first Sunday in November. This just adds insult to injury as it’s now so close to my birthday on November 7 that I have no time to adjust.

Yes, it’s the end of Daylight (Savings Time). I’ve never been able to figure out people who talk happily about getting an extra hour of sleep. Are you kidding me? You get one lousy hour of sleep in return for it being dark from 5pm for months? That is the worst fucking deal ever.

Oh, I know there are some people who rejoice at the idea of it being light later in the mornings. I know this because some of them are my friends. If they hadn’t told me, I would never have believed it. Well, screw them. Bloody morning people. Why should their vote on the matter be equal to mine? They are clearly mad.

I have a rehearsal this afternoon from 2-4. I will barely be home afterwards before it’s dark outside. If I blink it will be too late to bring wood up from the shed while there is still any daylight. That’s just wrong.

Last Friday, as usually happens this time of the year, there was a phone-in show on CBC radio discussing the idea of keeping Daylight Savings Time permanently. The majority of callers were in favour. So there.

There was one caller who suggested we split the difference by putting the clocks back by half an hour and leaving them there permanently. Hmm. That idea hurt my head a bit. Does that mean Newfoundland would suddenly be on the hour whilst the rest of the country was on the half hour? How would that work? (Just kidding, I do get it. And I’d vote for it if it would shut the morning people up.)

Now the countdown begins. Eighteen weeks. At least it’s no longer a full five months. Happily, at the same time the Canadian government decided to give its citizens one extra week of Daylight Savings Time in the autumn, it also decided to return the light at the beginning of March, rather than the end. Hooray for that.

The earth will continue to do its thing. Daylight will drip, drip away until the winter solstice (those pagans really knew when to party) before we start to gain a few minutes a day. The first (or is it second?) Sunday in March it will be light until 7pm. All will be well once again.

In the meantime I will use a Frangelico hot chocolate at 5pm to segue luxuriously into the darkness. Ya gotta have something to get you through this.

Roll on March.