Daylight Saving Time - an obsolete anachronism - why not a better way?

[magical thyme]

34. I think it's more about northern versus southern latitudes

When I lived in PA, I never got the need for DST.

I first noticed this when I moved north to Mass, and now that I live in Maine, I desperately need the time changes. My body runs slightly ahead of schedule, so it's a huge relief when the clock change comes.

Without moving the clocks forward, by the summer equinox the sun would be rising at around 3am here, and would be worse, of course, for the far north. As it is, it rises around 4am and sets shortly after 9pm, enabling us to sleep a little longer in the morning and lighting the full day.

Without setting the clocks back in the fall, by the winter equinox my body would be begging to go to bed by 7pm. As it is, I struggle to stay awake. And the sun wouldn't be rising until 8am or later. A struggle to get up and head to work in a pitch black morning and a struggle to stay awake in the evening.

I seem to remember, too, that one reason for the time change in the fall is so that school kids aren't standing out in the dark to catch their school buses in the morning. They were getting hit by groggy commuters.