The Watching Hour

Image by labenord from Pixabay

“Why did the man throw a clock out of the window?”

“He wanted to see time fly.”

You know that old kids’ joke, I’m sure. When I realized that changing the clocks was upon us once again, I read the article promising tips to alleviate time-change “hangover.” I didn’t know that the experience had its own name, but I do know the feeling, and my guess is that, if I end up subbing tomorrow, I’ll see its effects also.

One of the recommendations included going to bed early a few days in advance of the switch. Always do that; I am early-to-bed/early-to-rise by nature. Another said to avoid alcohol, and I did fairly well there (only one glass of wine). So I felt prepared!

Then I awakened at exactly 1:40…1:40—meaning that at 2:00 I could actually see the time change on my Fitbit. I don’t know why the 2 a.m. hour has stuck with me, or when I first learned that it pinpointed the transition, but it might have something to do with college and knowing that was the hour when bars closed.

But thanks to Time magazine, I know the truth:

“The reason Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 a.m., rather than midnight, is all thanks to the railroads: Amtrak, specifically. When the country first experimented with Daylight Saving Time in 1918 during World War I, there were actually no trains that left New York City at 2 a.m. on a Sunday. ‘Sunday morning at 2 a.m. was when they would interrupt the least amount of train travel around the country,’ Downing [Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time] says.”

Interesting—but not my point. I am going to watch my watch, read my book, and wait to see what happens. I’m up anyway. At 1:59 I tip my writs to illuminate the Fitbit face; it fades so I repeat…a couple of times. It’s 1 :59 and then…

3 a.m.

Time flies when you’re having fun!