Tuesday Tidbits: WHAT TIME IS IT, MR. FOX?

This was a game we played when I was young. The object was to reach the front where “Mr. Fox” stood without getting caught. Similar in some respects to “Red Light, Green Light”. The group at the starting line called out their question “What time is it, Mr; Fox?” To which the “Fox”, who had his/her back to the rest of the group, would respond with a time, like “5 o’clock”or “2 o’clock”, or “11 o’clock”. Then everyone had to take that many steps toward Mr. Fox, the question would be repeated with another time given until Mr. Fox responded with “Time to eat you.”, turned, and chased everyone back to the beginning line. If you were caught, then you became Mr. Fox.

The trick was to gauge how big of steps to take. If you took too small of steps, you couldn’t get to the front first and win. Too big, and you could be too close to Mr. Fox and get caught. And the trick for Mr. Fox was to make everyone take enough steps to get everyone close enough so he/she could tag someone.

So why am I telling you about this game? Because like “What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?” where the time was ever changing, so too have our clocks with Daylight Saving Time. It messes with me twice a year, both for “Spring Forward” and “Fall Back.” But “Fall Back” is easier. I do like my sleep. For the following week, I’m trying to figure out what time it is. There is always a caveat when asking the time. “It’s 3, but it feel like 2 to our bodies.” “It’s 6, but it feel like 5 to our bodies.” “It’s 11, but it feel like 10 to our bodies.” So which time is it. For a while, it’s both.

My eyes feel like sandpaper, scratching down my eyes. This time I woke up Monday with one eye severely bloodshot, and it hurts a lot. I also have a head ache. Not sure that’s because of missing an hour of sleep or being confused over what time it really is and my brain trying to figure it out.

So why do we have DST? I heard that back in the day, it was to conserve candles. Then to conserve energy. But, with our 24/7 world society, is it really saving anything? What we don’t use at one end of the day, don’t we use it at the other?

I have also heard that we still have DST because it’s safer for school children not having to go to school or come home in the dark or something like that. But when we change the clocks some children can still go to or come home from school in the dark.

I have also heard that accidents (car, home, work, etc.) increase the week after the time change. They know this because of the increase in insurance claims.

Hawaii doesn’t change their clock because they basically have 12/12 split between daylight and night, so what would be the point. Arizona also doesn’t change their clocks. I’m not sure why. But the Navajo Nation inside of Arizona does observe DST. There are various U.S. Territories who also don’t observe DST.

If you missed my post on some history of DST, here is a link to that post.

Last year in March, in the week leading up to the change, I decided I would go to bed ten minutes earlier each night until I was going to bed an hour earlier and get up ten minutes earlier each morning. Then when the clocks changed, I’d be on the right time. Nice plan, but the implementation of it didn’t quite work out. For one, one of my favorite shows comes on past my bed time so I’m artificially staying up too late that night anyway and it can through off the whole week if I’m not careful. So then I sleep in a little the following morning to make up for that. Then there are the occasional, accidental naps during the week that mess up getting to sleep at night. It was a little easier to adjust but was still challenging.

I wish we could pick a time and stick with it. I don’t care which. I’d be happy with either.

My Cat refuses to participate in DST. Cats are smart.

NEW!

The MISSADVENTURE BRIDES Collection

Love Is One of Life’s Greatest Adventures 
Seven daring damsels don’t let the norms of their eras hold them back. Along the way these women attract the attention of men who admire their bravery and determination, but will they let love grow out of the adventures?

Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure, a 1904 road-trip
Zola Calkin sets out on an adventure to be the first woman to drive across the country. Will the journalist tasked to report her presumed failure sabotage her efforts? Or will he steal her heart?

Released December 1, 2018

COURTING HER PRODIGAL HEART

Mother-to-Be’s Amish Homecoming... Pregnant and alone, Dori Bontrager is sure her Amish kin won’t welcome her—or the child she’s carrying—into the community. And she’s determined that her return won’t be permanent. As soon as she finds work, she’ll leave again. But with her childhood friend Eli Hochstetler insisting she and her baby belong here, will Dori’s path lead back to the Englisher world…or into Eli’s arms?
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RECENT!

THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT ~ A sweet historical romance that will tug at your heart. This is book 1 in the Quilting Circle series.
Washington State, 1893
     When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?
     Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in  town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother.
     Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?
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#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection (January), Courting Her Amish Heart (March), The Widow’s Plight (July), Courting Her Secret Heart (September), “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection (December), and Courting Her Prodigal Heart (January 2019). She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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