Well, we have zipped through February with relative ease. Perhaps it was the Olympics or the Super Bowl planted nearly halfway through, but it seems that this month has an economy of time that appeals to me. I love the fact that it is most often only four exact weeks long. When we hit March its like a giant do-over with three extra days. I was pondering what it would be like to have all 28 day months. They would each start on Monday and that, way for this preacher, the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th would always be on Sunday. My problem is, what do you do with 29 left over days?
I spent some time trying to figure out what we could do with an extra odd month. I know some cultures actually have a Lunar calendar. As best I can figure, the Earth and its 365 and a quarter day rotation could care less how we keep score. I actually thought if we had an extra month, we could sort of use it like a “study hall” in our way too busy schedule. It would be a ‘freebie’ where the whole planet took a collective breath. It did not take my scheming long until I gave up on the idea, on the month of Festivus (thanks Seinfeld). I will just enjoy this February where paydays come three days early.
Today on the news, some politician was making his case to do away with Daylight Savings time. I was never quite clear whether he wanted darkness in the morning or evening, but he was passionate about his case. I did catch that ski areas were on one side of the lobby and golf courses on the other. The time change that is coming, “Spring Forward”, is always a shock to my system. I tend to wake up with the morning light and when my sleeping goal posts are moved, I miss that hour for at least a couple of weeks.
I remember when DST first came to Colorado, a woman wrote the Denver Post that this time change was opposed to God and it was going to kill her flowers. It’s like she believed there was someone who threw the dawn and dusk light switch, and they had decided to ignore God. On the campus of Denver U. there is a giant sundial. I suspect we would all do better if we just let the sun set the pace. Farmers have understood this forever. When the sun comes up you get busy, and when it goes down you slow down and hit the sack.
Time has taken on a bit of a different meaning during the last two years. Covid has disrupted nearly everything. The word normal hardly means anything. We have been playing “crack the whip” with the constantly changing variants, political winds, scientific interventions and the outbreak of stupidity. As best I know, the sun keeps coming up and going down. I woke this morning to a moonlit early morning. Light was glistening on the snow and both the sun and the moon said hello. I was reminded again that I am happiest when I just enjoy the day.
Onward and Upward, Mark
Lyfting Me Up 