The Real Sign

As I said in previous posts, here have been many signs of early spring in the Pacific Northwest. Now it is regular spring time and there of signs that tell me so.

Now the traditional signs of spring are upon us.

The weather folks have reminded us of the spring equinox, that daytime is increasing most quickly, etc. A few weeks ago, at least one of the TV talking heads said we would get more daylight when we set the clocks ahead. Every intelligent person knows we don’t get more daylight; it is just shifted by law. Of course there are the natural signs of spring, buds on trees, dandelions showing their faces, etc.

Ski resorts are lamenting about having to end the season early. Schools are on spring break and spring break venues advertise special rates, but some increase their regular rates before giving specials.

I remember when the time of spring break changed every year. It could start as early as the Saturday before March 22 and as late as the Saturday before April 25. We called Easter vacation and many schools ended at noon for Good Friday.

Lawn service has started and flyers in the mail or hooked on doorknobs are trying to convince those who do not have lawn service that they need it. Friends of a certain age talk about wishing they could hire a teenager to do their lawn mowing like when they hired out as kid.1Oh the discussions that leads to.

I’ve seen the real sign of spring.

People are pulling their trailer or RV to the driveway, washing the winter grime away, and packing to leave for their first outing of the season.

P D T to P S T

Most of you know I wonder as I wander, and wander as I wander, so here I go again on signs of spring.

Another sign of spring is springing forward to save time.

Or did we fall back to save time some time ago?

Benjamin Franklin said, “Time is money,” in 1748.1Might not be an original thought, but he printed it.

“A penny saved is a penny earned,” is also attributed to Benjamin Franklin.2Never in exactly those words, and he wasn’t the originator of the saying either.

So what are we going to do with all that time we saved since last fall? Will we get interest on the savings? If so, what percentage?

Mankind with its considerable God given skill cannot possibly capture daylight, put it in a vault, and release it for later use.

Or is there a multi-nation, both friend and foe, working on a way to slow the rotation of the earth to gain more daylight.

But wait! If I remember a little about ratios, we would also get more hours of darkness.

Mankind has, however, been given paced skill improvement and access to the raw materials to develop compensations for times of shortened daylight. i.e. Fire in the very old days to LEDs in these days.

To be accurate, daylight has never been shortened, we just adjust the time when we use the compensations.

I haven’t studied the issue well enough to know or at least have an opinion that national ‘daylight saving’ is a continuing political issue, or just something that seemed to be a good idea sometime in the past.

My grandfather said that the cows don’t know about daylight saving. They want milked at the same earth time every day. My observation was that they came in from the pasture on standard time no matter what the clock said. It also amazed me how they could find their way to the barn in the dark.

Clocks on our microwave, coffee maker, and kitchen range are not connected to the internet and require the twice annual walk-around with hopes of getting them set somewhere within a minute of the actual time as specified by regulation and time zone. We left our old car on standard time gut our new car is connected to the internet, so it auto sets to the legislated time and our ‘devices’ are auto set. That is handy for the walkaround that includes two non-digital non-connected wall clocks.

Please don’t think I’m whining about this issue. As a retired nearly nonagenarian, I have the time to set the time on all the devices not connected to Wi-Fi.

So why then did I bring up the issue? I just wanted to, so there!

I wonder if I should wander about the house and move the non connected clocks before bed tonight or in the morning.


If you’ve read this content before, thanks for remembering. If not, I hope you found it interesting.

S O S

If you read my February 4th post, you would know I am fully aware the “Signs of Spring” are upon us.

In as much, as the earlier S O Ss were weather and critter related, other signs have been foisted upon us.

In the last week or so, probably two or three weeks, notifications have been presented. Am I alone in receiving the notifications? They’ve come in email, on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms.

SEED AND PLANT CATALOGS, lawn care flyers, newspaper articles giving the best advice for a greener and healthier lawn, and …

I wonder if my half bag of ‘weed and feed’ will be good enough or go far enough so I don’t have to buy another bag and have a new half bag left over.


Random and not necessarily relative to S O S:
Why do pre-packaged screws, bolts, nuts, etc. come in odd numbers so you have to buy two packs?
Do you also have an odd number of a size you may never find a use for?
I do.