That change of hour

One thing that cheers me when we reach April is having that extra hour of daylight in the evening.

My spirits go up as I look out over the sunlit garden as we eat our dinner in the early evening.

In the main part of winter I’m only too pleased to close the blinds & shut out the worst of the weather, to wrap myself around in the cosy comfort blanket of home.

As the end of March comes I grow restless. I’m awake at a ridiculously early hour, too early to get up, but it seems so light. I’m ready for the extra hour in bed in the morning &, more importantly, the extra hour of light in the evening.

The clocks have changed now. I’m more content. I just need a bit more warmth to spread, but I can’t see that happening whilst this icy blast of a wind continues to blow. I suspect when it does, the blue skies will disappear & the rains will return. You can’t have everything.

Most years, in this country, there is a debate as to whether we should change this clock changing business. People in the south think it is irrelevant. They would sooner have it lighter in the evening all year round. They reckon there would be less accidents as tired children make their way home in the gloom. 

Personally I remember my childhood in the north of England, when this country did make the experiment of having a standard time all year round that agreed with the current British Summer Time. I hated going to school in the dark. It was bad enough going in gloom in winter, but pitch black was even worse. It may be gloomy in the winter evenings but no worse than in the morning. But we, in the north, have shorter hours of daylight than those in the south, a fact we sometimes are aware of even when we make the occasional trip down to Manchester these days. I suspect Scots would want the hours changed even more than I do.

Still, now the hour has changed. And, what is more, we’re even having a spell of sunshine & blue skies. Summer is on its way. I just hope it’s better than last year’s one was.