Regeneration

Last week doggo and I went out for a walk to see if we could find a forester in our woods.  No, we weren't playing Where's Waldo; I had gotten a text from a consulting forester we recently hired notifying me that on very short notice he was conducting a timber cruise.  You're probably thinking this has something to do with a luxury cruise ship or forest ocean liner.  For forestry purposes a timber cruise is a field survey conducted to measure, count and assess the quality, volume and species of standing timber for reasons of management, sales or tax purposes.  Inasmuch as we've not listed anything for sale this is strictly about updating our management plan going forward the next 25 years or so.

Doggo located our guy in short order and after an exchange of pleasantries we discussed past management practices and his professional first impression of what we got going-on in our built-from-scratch forest.

Some of you may recall that after acquiring our crappy piece of farmland in 1994 we decided to naturalize much of it by means of planting native cover - namely trees but also seven acres of pollinator habitat.  In 1998 and 1999 we planted roughly 40,000 native Wisconsin conifers and hardwoods.  For years I imagined I'd never live long enough to see those little seedlings ever amount to anything.  Lo and behold we woke-up one year and discovered we had a real forest on our hands.  It was so thick that in some locations you couldn't see through it, walk through it or even consider hunting it.  

So on the heels of the COVID shitshow we hired a logger to perform a pre-commercial thinning; a practice of removing less-desirable softwood conifers in order to release the more desirable and valuable hardwoods. A release is basically removing the competition so that the oaks had more access to sunlight and other resources.  

And I gotta tell you that opening-up the canopy accomplished two things.  First, the released trees put-on a huge growth spurt.  

Second, with sunlight reaching the understory Ma Nature allowed all manner if little seedlings to sprout and all of a sudden we had thousands of tiny little trees popping-up all over the place.

Naturally, the deer, rabbits and mice eat the tastier oaks, white pine and cedar but as a general rule turn-up their nose at tamarack and spruce.  That doesn't mean there's no regeneration of the former, just less.  And with the exception of something we might stick in the yard we're out of the business of planting trees.  Done!  Nature has assumed responsibility for the process going forward.  If you disregard the original investment in preparation and nursery stock, years of work, capital investment in equipment and time; all of these little trees are free for nuth'n. 

 

And an updated management plan will inform our actions going forward and serve as a guide to any future owners.

Next step is to hire a surveyor and actually determine where the property lines and corners actually are located.

Stay-tuned.....    

Post-Blizzard Report

Just got home following some folderol with our curling friends in the naked city.  And it is stunning to see how much of the snow deposited over 48 hours a week ago has melted. My sump pump rejoices.

And a bigger hand to everyone else who toiled under stressful conditions to keep roads and essential services open.

Cheers!

 

Friday Music

This week we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Patrick - Patron Saint of Ireland.  We're celebrating our Semiquincentennial this year and our war for independence from the yoke of the British Crown.  The Irish have their own story of the struggle for independence from British rule.  I figured this is as good a week as any to feature this song.

Composed by Father Charles O'Neil (1887-1963) it is a product of the political situation in Ireland in the aftermath of the Easter Rising and World War I.

More than 200,000 Irishmen served in British forces during the war.  This resulted in mixed feelings for many Irish, particularly those with nationalist sympathies.  Many Irish felt the moral justifications for the war and freedom for small nations such as Belgium and Serbia should be applied to Ireland subjugated by the British.

The Easter Rising of 1916 was an armed rebellion in Dublin against British rule.  The British put down the unrest in six days of street fighting.  450 were killed - mostly civilians and the rebel leaders were executed.  Public revulsion to the response and executions contributed to a growing alienation from Britain and led to the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921).

O'Neil reflected this alienation when he composed the the song telling the story of the Easter Rising and commemorating the few hundred brave men who rose-up against the most powerful empire in the world.

His feelings are summed-up in the line:  Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Sulva or Sud el Bar.

Foggy Dew.....  

Scratching Your Druid Itch

 

06.08.24 Stonehenge

The ancient Druids did not build Stonehenge.  As a matter of fact, as a consequence of a timeline mismatch they had nothing to do with it.  This monument was constructed during the Neolithic and Bronze Age and predates them by more than 1000 years.  This was long before the Celtic Druids appeared in Britain.  Any association is a 17th-century myth, although ancient Druids may have used the site for rituals just as modern-day Druids do.

As the sun grows warmer we notice small signs of life beneath our feet.  First are the crocuses and daffodils, followed by the bluebells and wood anemones. Many of us view these emergent plants as mere greenery.  Druids see life in all living things including springs, creeks, rivers, rocks and stones.  In Druidry all life is sacred.

One of the great mysteries is the Druid's egg.  Life-giving, it is the egg protected by the hare, which is the symbol of Alban Eilir, - the Festival of the Spring Equinox which means The Light Of The Earth.  As Christianity supplanted pagan festivals Christians today celebrate Easter with eggs courtesy of the Easter bunny.

Happy vernal equinox.   

The astronomical arrival of spring is a consequence of the earth’s tilt on its axis as it orbits around the sun.  Equinox from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night) means the the earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally.  On this date the sun rises exactly due east and set exactly due west with sunlight striking both hemispheres of the earth equally.   Night and day are approximately equal in length. 

As you observe the movement of the sun across the sky each day you will note that it is shifting toward the north.  Birds and butterflies begin their northward migration as a response to this change in daylight following the path of the sun.

 

It would be premature to pack-away your winter outerwear, return the snow shovels to the shed or plant a garden.  Nevertheless, this is a harbinger of the arrival of astronomical spring for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  

 

The official start time will be tomorrow, March 20, at about 9:46 AM CST (give or take). 

Astronomers base season cycles upon the position of the earth in relation to the sun.  The beginning of Astronomical Spring or the Vernal Equinox marks the time when the sun passes directly above the equator.  Meteorological spring is based-upon annual temperature cycles.  Your weatherman will tell your that meteorological spring begins March 1 and goes thru the end of May.

 

No matter how you slice it the days will grow longer, the temperatures warmer and mud season is in full swing.

What's For Dinner?

There are two constants on our menu.

Salmon and venison once a week. Tonight was the latter.

Clockwise, sautéed fresh spinach, baked jacket potato and pan-seared backyard whitetail. Medium rare. 

It's what's for dinner.

Pretty good chow if you can get it.

One Tough Bird

We've had a pair of resident sandhill cranes nesting here for as long as we've had our big pond; making it thirty years.  I don't believe it has been the same pair for the duration ; nevertheless, we've been witness to cranes arriving here in the month of March is some remarkably harsh weather conditions.  Including Winter Storm Elsa which ended late Monday.  Our cranes have been here for a couple of weeks already and when I arose yesterday they were easy to spot given all the snow on the ground.

There they were - several hundred yards north of the house - at the edge of the frozen pond, in a couple feet of snow, on a sunny 18F morning.  The sandhill is an incredibly hardy critter always arriving at their northern breeding grounds while there is still snow covering icy wetlands. 

This bird comes factory-equipped with some sophisticated physiological adaptations that allow it to thrive under the harshest of conditions.  One of these is a sophisticated network of blood vessels in their legs called rete tibiotarsale.  Also found in penguins and turkey vultures this allows warmer arterial blood from their heart to transfer heat to the cold venous blood returning from their feet.  This keeps their core temperature warm while allowing their feet to remain at a lower temperature while standing in snow or icy water.  

When airborne cranes typically fly with their long legs trailing behind.  If it is too cold at 10,000 feet of altitude the bird will tuck their legs into their belly feathers to conserve heat.  Speaking of which, the crane's plumage is a dense layer of soft downy feathers beneath an outer layer of contour feathers.  Air trapped by the inner layer provides thermal insulation beneath the outer feathers that repel wind and freezing rain.   

Crane behavior strategies include the use of tail winds to speed their migration from Mexico and southern states, roosting in warmer waters adjacent to power plants and preening their gray feathers with mud to make a rusty-brown camouflage to hide from predators.  Until the arrival of spring green-up, this is a bird capable of digging beneath snow to locate waste grain in agricultural fields and tubers and dormant invertebrates and amphibians in frozen mud. 

Anyway, we're looking forward to observing the ritual mating dance of Wisconsin's tallest bird.  The birds will face each other, bow and jump while flapping their wings and making loud cackling calls.  Yes, this tough bird can dance too.

Stay-tuned for any lucky trail camera photos I might capture this season. 

Patron Saint

Clonmacnoise, Ireland

The Feast Day of Saint Patrick has taken-on more significance for me since we traveled and visited the Old Sod of my ancestors before COVID.  Unless you are oblivious it is obvious that the Republic of Ireland is most assuredly a bastion of the Roman Catholic tradition of the Christian faith.  And I suppose more than a few visitors are left with the impression that Ireland is - in some official capacity - a Catholic country.  While Catholics significantly outnumber all other faith traditions in Ireland, there is no reference to Catholicism in the Irish Constitution.  Ireland is officially a secular state and tolerates all belief systems.  Of course, on my visit not even once did I spy a Lutheran church.  But I digress.

Getting back to the Feast Day the story of Ireland’s Patron Saint persists and you readers are likely wondering if St. Patrick really did chase the snakes out of Ireland.  Or is that tale just a bunch of blarney?        

According to the tale way back in the fifth century the legendary priest raised his staff and banished the reptiles into the seas surrounding the Emerald Isle.  Save for those in captivity it is true that Ireland has no snakes.  But this current condition has less to do with religious tradition and more to do with geologic history and events dating many millennia ago.  Following the retreat of the last glaciers some 15,000 years ago Ireland was devoid of snakes.  Surrounded by icy waters to this very day snakes cannot swim or find their way there and as a consequence Ireland remains snake-free.         

That’s too bad because if my recreational DNA test is to be believed I am becoming more Irish with every passing year.  And I have a particular fondness for snakes. The bigger the better.   

Like this dandy five foot long Western Fox Snake.  I also like a good saint when I see one and St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish.         

Patrick was born of aristocratic blood in Britain probably around the year 390.  The legend says that he was not particularly religious.  At age 16 he was kidnapped into slavery was forced into life as a sheepherder in Ireland.  It is held that it was during this time that he found God and became a believer.         

As the story goes he began hearing voices and the voices instructed him to flee.  Which he did.  Patrick eventually found his way back to Britain and his family.  Alas, the voices returned commanding him to return to Ireland.  He was ordained a priest, went back to Ireland and spent the balance of a rather difficult life converting the pagan Celts to Christianity.  He died on March 17, 461 and was promptly forgotten.      

Nevertheless, over many years faithful conviction and belief in the story of Patrick grew.  And he grew ever larger after his death than he did in real life.  Hundreds of years after the fact he was honored as Ireland’s patron saint.         

So on March 17th we gather to pay homage to this saint who - ostensibly - banished the snakes from Ireland.  It is said that on this one day of the year everyone is Irish.          

Since I have real Irish blood coursing through my veins I intend to raise a glass of Guinness and toast my ancestors and Saint Patrick.  I will ignore the part about the sketchy British and Western European connection.         

Speaking of Guinness - according to the Guinness people somewhere around 5.5 million pints of Guinness stout are consumed world-wide each and every day.  On St. Patrick’s Day this will grow to 13 million pints; lifting a Lenten restriction on alcohol for just one day.     

Drink responsibly people.         

Sláinte!

 

Sockdolager!

Forecast was for a cessation of snowfall by 4 PM. Took these shots before 3:30. The sun is shining and the wind continues to howl out of the north. Gusts up to 60+ MPH are absolutely brutal. 

 

 

Look like we got at about 27-30 inches on the level. Reports suggest Sturgeon Bay got 35+. 

The drifts are amazing.

 

Businesses, schools and churches are closed with many of the town roads impassable. We’re on a county road and will get further attention after the state highways are completed. No power outages for us but half of the statewide total is confined to the peninsula. 

 

Waiting on our plow guy to take a stab at clearing the driveway so I can fetch the blower from the machine shed and finish digging out. 

 

Winter Storm Elsa was a whopper two day nor'easter; a real Sockdolager! 

Guns Versus Butter

I haven't had much to say about the war with Iran.  On one hand it is easy to come down on the side of regime change or, at a minimum, defanging the regime. The Mullahs are a dangerous collection of twisted religious revanchists who would kill me in a heartbeat for simply being American, Christian or both.  Yup, I am the Great Satan.  Nuclear weapons in the hands of these gangsters is taboo.

On the other hand, my preference would have been for a President to take his case before Congress before going to war.  I am unconvinced of the clear and present danger of an immediate threat as much as I am convinced that the president would have gotten the go-ahead from Congress along with buy-in from the public.  What we got instead was more executive unilateralism.

Almost three weeks into Operation Epic Fury - the war on Iran - the President's promise of prosperity and economic growth in his second term is facing a handful of critical risks that heretofore did not exist.  Going into the new year the current economic condition was basically OK.  Notwithstanding a nonsensical tariff regimen my sense was that the president was counting on a second-term economic agenda of deregulation and tax relief to propel the economy forward.  

In the absence of a Congressional resolution supporting the war, shifting rationales for the war itself and no clearly articulated strategy to end the hostilities at this particular point in time and space there are any number of elements that might conspire to trip-up both the domestic and world economies.

The most immediate of which is the disruption to the energy supply chain.  Even an Iranian 'threat' to shipping via the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil prices to spike impacting everything from gasoline, to LNG and diesel. The domino-effect of this is a spike in inflation pressures as a consequence  higher prices for groceries (transportation and farming costs), airfares and utility pricing.

Wars costs a big pile of money; with the first week alone reported to cost us taxpayers $11.3 billion.  Even if the burn rate settles-in at $1 billion a day the implications for expanding the the federal deficit are huge.  The President and Pentagon are going to come back with hat-in-hand to ask for more money; and the resulting borrowing will crowd-out private investment and lead to calls for raising taxes.   

Iranian threats have disrupted maritime security resulting in the rerouting of shipping, higher insurance premiums and increased freight costs impacting virtually every last consumer good traveling the global supply chain. 

Economists have been setting-off alarm bells that a prolonged conflict could damage business confidence leading to a pause in hiring and capital investment.  A combination of persistently higher energy costs and depressed growth could lead to a 1970s style 'stagflation'.  Naturally, the investment market's response to uncertainty is greater volatility.

I do not believe that an air campaign alone can effect regime change much less political change. Consequently, I'm anxious to know how this gets wrapped-up before it morphs into an unintentional 'forever war'. 

Meanwhile, the resulting energy crisis and fiscal drain have very real implications to our economy, and the world economy writ-large.  The risk for shifting from an expected period of domestic growth to one of stagnation and rising living costs is quite real.

I want policy that improves your and my prosperity and general lot in life.  Along with making the world a safer place.  But what it is ain't exactly clear.  We have not been to a Trump rodeo like this before.

About Those Signs Of Spring

Spoke too soon about springtime.

When you live half-way between the equator and the North Pole the month of March can throw you a curve ball from time to time.

Woke-up today to this.

Business has been brisk at the bird feeders all day with the arrival of more of the summertime species in the past week.  So doggo and I went out to top them-off and deployed an additional two suet feeders.

Presently it looks like there is 8 to 10 inches of snow on the level, with another 18 to 20 in the next twenty four hours.  We got a regular nor'easter on our hands with winds coming off the lake gusting to 40 miles per hour.

Snug here with a nonstop fire in the wood burner since last evening.  We even had bacon with breakfast; because, there's a blizzard going on.

No power outages (yet).

Everything is closed except the local watering hole  Come to think about it the only way to get there is by snowmobile.....  

 

Signs of Spring

It is officially spring here in the northern hemisphere meteorologically-speaking.   

Meteorological seasons are conveniently divided into tidy calendar months.  The seasons begin on the first day of the months that include the equinoxes and solstices:  Thusly, spring runs from March 1 to May 31; summer runs from June 1 to August 31; fall (autumn) runs from September 1 to November 30; and winter runs from December 1 to February 28 (February 29 in a leap year).   

The astronomical definition uses the dates of equinoxes and solstices to mark the beginning and end of the seasons:  Spring begins on the spring equinox; summer begins on the summer solstice; fall (autumn) begins on the fall equinox; and winter begins on the winter solstice. The beginning of each season marks the end of the last.   

Because the timings of the equinoxes and solstices change each year, the length of astronomical seasons within a year and between years also varies.       

If you want to keep it simple remember this and this alone:  The arrival of the male redwing blackbirds to stake out their breeding territories is a harbinger of spring and has always been my benchmark for the official start.    On March 7 the first one arrived precisely on-time.  Now there are vast flocks of them.

And If you have a sporting dog in your household this also marks the beginning of mud season.  

Raising a toast to the janitor slop sink and hot and cold running water.... 

The Award For Excellence In Cinematic Achievement For Arrogance, Vanity and Excess Goes To....

The Academy For Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is hosting their 98th annual award ceremony tomorrow.  And a funny thing happened on the way to the Oscars.  The $220,000,000 taxpayer-funded boondoggle overseen by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem has drawn intense scrutiny not only on account of the cost, but because that single 60-second promotional effort she authorized outspent the production budgets of every 2026 Oscar Best Picture nominee.

The combined production and promotion budget of every single film on the Motion Picture Academy's list of nominees came in lower than Secretary Noem's extravagant high-hat testament to personal conceit.  

The following table compares the $220 million DHS ad campaign budget against the estimated production costs of the top-spending 2026 Academy Award contenders:

Feature Film	Category	Estimated Production Budget	vs. DHS Ad
F1	Sports Drama	$135M – $200M	Up to $85M cheaper
One Battle After Another	Period Drama	$130M – $175M	At least $45M cheaper
Frankenstein	Sci-Fi Horror	$120M	$100M cheaper
Sinners	Supernatural Thriller	$90M	$130M cheaper

Consider this:  Film budgets can include one or more years of labor for hundreds of cast and crew members, whereas the DHS budget was for a 60-second clip and its airtime.  $175 million of the DHS expenditure went to Safe America Media Group, a corporation formed just days before the contract was awarded and with no prior government experience.

Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) labeled the spending a 'fraud' noting that the campaign featured Noem prominently on horseback at Mount Rushmore, serving more as a political branding exercise instead of a legitimate government service.

And, of course, it pissed-off El Jefe (The Boss).  After Noem testified before Congress that President Trump signed-off on the spending, the President publicly stated, I never knew anything about it, noting that he spent less money than that to actually become President. 

Oh boy howdy.  Someone gonna take that girl to the woodshed before too long....

Friday Music

This multi-talented family band is from Cebu, Philippines, featuring parents Secan and Sheena Alipio and their four musically-gifted children - Naces, Neisha, Stacey and Isaiah.

They've a well-deserved reputation for their impressive rock/pop covers and faith-based family values.  They've grown a following as a consequence of bring joy to the interweb by means of their musical gifts.

They do not have a Wiki page; however, you can learn more and follow them on their YouTube and Face Book pages.  Enjoy a couple of moments of delightful happiness!

Melt With You... 

Quote Of The Day

Tell these tankers to get themselves, get to it, we have wiped out most of their launchers.   These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts, there’s nothing to be afraid of.  They have no navy, we sunk all their ships.

- President Trump 

Foxy Redhead

Meet Vulpes vulpes – the Red Fox.  It is distinguished from the Gray Fox by a white-tipped tail visible in the photos.  After taking a few years off the last handful of years they've been appearing more frequently on the trail cameras.  I suppose the competing coyotes haven't succeeded in cleaning them out.  

It is terrific to see them around here; such a beautiful canid the fox is. 

They’re omnivores that dine-upon everything from rabbits, small rodents, roadkill, fruits and nuts and insects.   

They sometimes make their home in an enlarged woodchuck den, or hollow log, or underneath a log or rock in a stream bank or side of a hill.  A mated pair will defend their turf from other foxes but this canine frequently is prey to the resident coyotes and wolves.  

 

A female is called a vixen, a male is called a dog fox, newborns are called pups, kits or cubs.  And a group of foxes is called a skulk.   

 

 

They're breeding this time of year. 

 

Maybe I can expect to see more of them in the months and years ahead? 

 

 

 

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

One of the most storied names in the tobacco business is Chesterfield; remembered for its rapid rise in popularity in the med-20th century and its iconic They Satisfy marketing campaigns.

The cigarette brand can trace its lineage all the way back to 1873 when it was introduced by the Drummond Tobacco Company of St. Louis, Missouri. 

In 1911 Chesterfield was acquired by Liggett & Myers (L&M) and they reblended it into a Turkish-Virginia mix to compete with Camel and Lucky Strike.  In the 1930s and 40s it was the Big Three - Camel, Lucky Strike and Chesterfield - that engaged in a fierce tobacco war spending millions on radio, print and celebrity endorsements to grab their share of a rapidly-growing population of smokers.

During World War II combat field rations (C and K) included a pack of three, four or nine cigarettes introducing an entire generation of servicemen and women to smoking on the the government's dime.  While Chesterfield was most frequently found in K rations, by the end of the war industry leader Camel had earmarked more than half of their total annual production to the military.

Chesterfield's signature slogan was They Satisfy - eventually introducing Blow Some My Way in a not so subtle reach for women smokers. The brand was famously pitched by Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball and James Arness (Gunsmoke).  It was the brand of choice for James Bond and the first of countless smokes consumed by author Stephen King.

 

Nowadays, the brand is owned by Altria (manufactured by subsidiary Philip Morris USA) and after a brief hiatus was reintroduced to the US market in 2019 with filters - Gasp!  Philip Morris International supplies the rest of the world.

I grew-up with second hand smoke.  Unfiltered Chesterfields were my late, great mother's smoke of choice until my daughter was born 

Fast Fact: The inclusion of cigarettes in military rations did not officially end until 1975 as health concerns finally outweighed any lingering morale-boosting benefit.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em..... 

Backyard Birding

On the recommendation of my pal, Braumeister, at the start of last  month I hung the contraption you see below from a branch on a red maple in our yard.  It is a bird feeder that you fill with peanuts.  Peanuts in the shell; raw and unsalted.   

I bought a big bag of nuts at a local bird food joint.  And while they're clearly labeled:  NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION I suppose if I tried one I don't think it would kill me.  But you never know.  

It took a few days for the local birds to figure-out what it's for and now I'm restocking it almost twice a week.  

In any event the trail camera I installed to monitor who might like peanuts needed to be rearranged.  It needed to have its back to the sun so that subjects were appropriately lit.  It took a couple of tries to get the focal length correct.  Trim some branches and there was the opportunity cost of losing several days of potential photos as a consequence of an improperly-formatted SD card.  Mind you, the camera is old too.  Originally-deployed during COVID in 2020 it is quite frail and could fail catastrophically just about any time.  Nevertheless, being the cheap SOB that I am I intend to squeeze every last gigabyte of digital imagery out of this old Moultrie device as I can.

So, here's an update

Yours-truly wrangling and wrassling the gizmo one of countless times to get it situated 

Blue jay

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatch

Pileated woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Black-capped chickadee

And a hairy woodpecker

Altogether a nice collection of some of the year-round bird residents.  The migrators are beginning to arrive so it will be interesting to note if any of them like peanuts.

Stay-tuned....  

 

Maintenance Woes

I’ve been driving my Mustang Mach-E for a couple of years now and maintenance has been an absolute bitch.

Tire rotations - Ford says this is exceedingly important as a consequence of weight.  An absurd inconvenience. 

Following the outrage of two tire rotations in as many years; my afternoon was interrupted by an unscheduled service interval.  

I had to fill the wiper reservoir.  Geez. 

Adding insult to inconvenience, there is wintertime driving.

As with all Pony Cars that’s asking for a sure visit to the ditch.

Pro Tip - Carry a Snatch Strap.

Happy motoring.

Vroom!

 

March Astronomy - Venus and Saturn

Earlier this year Venus began it's transition to the post-sunset sky assuming its place as our Evening Star.  With every passing sunset it will ascend a bit higher.  Coincidentally, Saturn has been descending with every passing evening and after a half year of its presence will disappear from view before too long.   

For the past couple of days the two planets have begun to pass each other closely and if you look to the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset you can spot both planets in a planetary conjunction.

You should have no problem spotting them with your naked eyes; however, if you have a pair of binoculars use them for a closer look. 

 

Lock The Clock

If you’re like me this semiannual switch between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time is madness.  Today I lost an hour of sleep and in November after I set my clock back an hour I’ll still get out of bed in the dark to turn the coffee on.  At the end of the day I’ll pour myself a glass of Merlot in the dark.  This resetting of the clocks is messing with my circadian rhythms.

Daylight Saving Time is associated with the Western world as most countries outside Europe and North America don't observe the ritual. 

Courtesy of CNN research the notion of Daylight Saving Time has a curious pedigree.

1784 - The idea of daylight saving is first conceived by Benjamin Franklin.

1914-1918 - Britain goes on DLS during World War I.

March 19, 1918 - The Standard Time Act establishes time zones and daylight saving. Daylight saving is repealed in 1919, but continues to be recognized in certain areas of the United States.

1945-1966 - There is no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time.

1966 - The Uniform Time Act of 1966 establishes the system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States. The dates are the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. States can exempt themselves from participation.

1974-1975 - Congress extends DLS in order to save energy during the energy crisis.

1986-2006 - Daylight Saving Time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

August 8, 2005 - President George W. Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act will extend Daylight Saving Time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. 

 

In 2022, the Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act which would make daylight saving time permanent.  The House did not pass it and then-President Biden did not sign it.  Whether the second session of the 119th Congress will pass the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 remains to be seen.  H.R. 139/S. 29 has not passed as of this moment.  The legislation, which proposes making daylight saving time permanent, was introduced in January 2025 but has remained stalled in committee, with low chances of passing, according to GovTrack.us and GovTrack.us. 

 

As for making Daylight Savings Time permanent there is evidence that the frequency of heart attack and stroke increases around the ritual resetting of clocks twice a year.  Benefits of Daylight Savings Time enhance public safety and make better economic sense.  Proponents of Daylight Saving Time argue that most people appreciate an increase in daylight hours after coming home from work.  

Speaking for myself - I like the notion of longer, lighter evenings and a happier more prosperous United States.  I like my clock precisely where it is.   

Make it permanent. 

 

Lock the clock.