So here we go again, this coming Sunday morning we go back on Standard Time. Well many of us do anyway. I’ve always welcomed the late sunsets that Daylight Savings time brings in the summer; and have often cursed the early ones when we “fall back.” Many times I’d even whine out loud to strangers, whether at a grocery store or gas station. “Why don’t they just spring ahead and leave it alone!?!?” is often exclaimed. Some will also grunt that “We’re the only country that uses this, aren’t we?” And I have to confess, “I’m not sure.”
Well I simply had to look it up. There’s a very interesting map that shows who uses Savings Time and who doesn’t; and you can find it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time
Turns out lots of folks use it. And I’m betting lots of folks whine about the change. I’ll have to admit, though, I really do love that extra hour of sleep, even if it’s only for one whole night.
Doesn’t feel like any time is actually saved. I mean, yes it gets dark later. But the amount of time in a day is still 24 hours, right? So who’s saving all this time? And if they have some extra, where do they keep it? I want some either yesterday or the day before please. I mean seriously, may I have some this time that was supposedly saved?? Some extra time would be especially useful now that I’m getting older.
So now I’m gonna switch gears here a little, but hey, I’m old enough to remember when The Beatles came to the US on the Mayflower. So I’m allowed to switch gears, OK?? I just have a very simple question: where the HECK did all the time go?? Anyhow?? I really do remember when The Beatles first set foot on US soil. We were in our grandparent’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY; and I jokingly told Dad, “Hey! The Beatles are in town!! Wanna go see ’em??” And he simultaneously smirked and snarled, “Yeah, right!!” It was a definite snarlsmirk.
That happened in 1964, kids!! FIFTY NINE YEARS AGO!! How come it feels like a couple months ago? Well OK, maybe a couple years. Just a few years ago a 50th anniversary edition of the White Album was released. Yikes!! Sure, I’m 69 now… but although that’s how long my body has been roaming the planet, my spirit is still convinced I’m in my 20s or 30s. But my body slaps me back into reality when I do normal chores like chopping wood or hoeing in the garden. The mind says “GO!” and later the body says, “OK, so now you hurt everywhere. Happy??”
Well yes, I’m happy, but also in pain.
Yeah, we’re getting old. I can accept it most of the time… I certainly like it better than NOT getting old. And I’ve learned to embrace and even celebrate the milestones. My Beautiful Girlfriend and I celebrated a huge milestone this past summer: our marriage turned 50 years old on August 21. Is that amazing or what?!?! We’re not really amazed that we’re married… we worked very hard to learn how to give each other lots of happiness. No, instead we’re amazed that it’s actually 50 years!!
These days, in spite of some health concerns, we really are the happiest we’ve ever been. And we are grateful that it has been this way for well over 30 years now. Feels like we’ve been together our whole lives, and we like it very much. Both of us tried to sabotage the relationship but neither of us succeeded. We both stuck to the notion that we needed to be together much more than we ever wanted to be apart. That gave us the willingness to change in ways that have produced a spiritual bond for which we are both immensely grateful.
In the grand scheme of things, we basically grew up together.
I heard a funny statement a while back: “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” Oh, and as the frogs might say, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.” If you’ve read this far, you’re probably getting old (like me), because hey, who the heck reads blogs anymore?? OK, I do. So yeah, time really does fly… and the older I get the faster it seems to go. We’re retired now, and we do decadent things like stay up way late and “forget” to set an alarm for mornings. Andy yes, in spite of the annoyance of the time change, we’ll probably be grateful for that extra hour of sleep.
Us old farts gotta get our rest ya know.
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A dear friend of mine got me a t-shirt awhile back that reads, “I May Be Old But I Got To See All The Cool Bands.” Well lots of them anyway… here are some examples of performances of songs relating to time. I got to see Pink Floyd as my very first rock concert. I was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base and saw them at Tampa Stadium, which is long gone (my Beautiful Bride had not left home to come marry me yet). But both of us heard the “time” songs when we saw The Guess Who, Styx, David Bowie, and yes, Cher (and yes, we saw many, many more). Good times!!