Spring is Here!

We've enjoyed a very nice spring day today. The thermometer got up into the 50s and I was in and out of the house without putting on a heavy coat! The snow is melting quickly, and tomorrow is going to be even warmer. We have a couple weeks left of March, so we will no doubt have more snow, but aside from the muddy roads, everyone is enjoying everything about the weather today.

The road is pretty bad, according to reports I've had. I didn't have to go anywhere today, but I'll be heading out tomorrow morning to Hastings Store where Patty and I will be meeting with someone from WDEV to do a live interview about our book. He will also be talking to people about the Joe's Pond Ice-Out, so if you'd like to be on the air, come on in to the store around 9:30 or so. I'm not sure if our interview will be first, or he will talk with people about the Ice-Out first, but I know I'm supposed to be there shortly after 9. If you can't join us, listen in - I believe the broadcast is from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. WDEV, 550 on your radio dial!

There has been quite a bit of interest by the media in the Ice Out Contest recently. Some years nobody shows up for TV or radio interviews until after April 1st, so it's great that there are interviews earlier this year to perhaps give ticket sales a boost. No tickets can be sold after April 1st, no matter how wintery it looks or how much ice there is left on the pond. Sometimes it takes two or three weeks after the April 1st ticket sales cutoff, for the ice to melt enough for the flag to go down and stop the clock. However, if we get much more of this kind of weather, we could be announcing a winner much sooner rather than later this year. We'll see what the weather is for the rest of this month!

Are you following the news about abandoning the twice-yearly time change? It is long overdue, I think. I fail to see what advantage there is to setting our clocks back an hour each fall and then ahead again in the spring. I am also having a hard time understanding why, if the law is passed this spring, we'd have to wait until the fall of 2023 for it to take effect. Why is not changing the clocks more complicated than resetting them fall and spring? Surely airlines and broadcasters have managed switching schedules twice a year for decades, so why would not doing that be so difficult? What I would think would be a difficult decision is which should be made the permanent time. Arizona and various U. S. islands do not recognize Daylight Savings, so wouldn't it be more uniform to go with that? The so-called Sunshine Protection Act would make Daylight Savings the standard. I'm sure people everywhere are  hopeful; but of course there are legitimate reasons some people will prefer to continue the practice of changing our clocks every spring and fall, so this could be like blowing smoke rings into the wind. 

With everything else going on in the world right now, getting the Sunshine Protection Act passed seems frivolous. However, it passed unanimously in the Senate - and to me, it is encouraging that at least both parties can come together on something.

Stay safe and well.