Time Change

Today's high temperature was: 52

Cloudy and grey

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I am old enough to remember when we didn't have the time change.  We just stayed on Eastern Standard Time all year long.  The seasons changed, as they should, with earlier darkness at night and later darkness in the morning.

My Daddy was a farmer.  He had about 50 Holstein cows.  Dairy cows need to be milked twelve hours apart.  If they aren't milked regularly, every day, they can get mastitis, which is a disease of the udder.  Imagine, if my Daddy milked his cows at 5:00 one night and then the time changed and he had to milk them at clock time of 4:00 the next morning.  Or, in the spring, at 6:00 the next morning.

So for him, and most farmers, the time change in spring and fall meant more work for them and a real change in their schedule.  Starting a few weeks before the time change, Daddy would have to either move back or move up his milking schedule--a few minutes each day.  I remember him ignoring it one year--he NEVER even changed his wrist watch!  Off course, this threw off our schedule for breakfast and supper.  If he had a township board meeting, he had to remember what time it was, according to his wrist watch.

When our State voted on changing from EST to DST, it was voted down.  But--you know how government is--the Governor at the time, put it into effect.  For years all I heard was how the farmers wanted the time change to be able to get more done in the daylight hours at night.  THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!

The time change, at least in this State, was pushed through by the auto workers unions who wanted more daylight hours after they got off 1st shift work.

I remember how difficult it was to get my kids on a different waking and sleeping schedule.  Now--I am going through the same thing with my cats.  Normally, I feed them their night time snack at 9:00 at night.  With the "fall back" time change, they start pestering me at "clock time" 8:00.  I have been trying to ease them later a few minutes each night.

In the spring, they will be pestering me in the morning to get fed an hour earlier then "clock time".

Last night, as I was driving Andrew home, he said, "Look outside.  It's pitch black and it isn't even six o'clock yet!".  

Not good for a grandma who has trouble driving after dark!!!
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I don't feel like doing much of anything lately.  I had my shoes on this afternoon to go to Wal-Mart to get a prescription and to Meijer's to buy Diet Pepsi, which is on sale for $1.00 for 2 liter jug.  Then I remembered my prescription will not be ready until tomorrow morning, so I just took my shoes off and came in here and did some more work on researching self-publishing.

I have no ambition.  Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about Fred.  It's been over 22 months since he died.  I went for long periods of time when I didn't think of him for days.  Now, it seems, he is all that is my mind.  So--I get distracted--thought I was over that foggy feeling.  I don't even remember going to bed last night.  I don't remember what time I got up this morning.  I hate this feeling!!!  Hated it for the first few months after he died, but knew about it and expected it.  Now?  I shouldn't be having this.

I was in the bathroom this morning and I had the feeling that he was sitting in his recliner in the living room.  I was so tempted to step out into the hall and peek around the corner.  I KNEW he wasn't there.  But it "felt" like he was.  I didn't look.  I got my toothbrush and brushed my teeth.  I went back into the bedroom and got dressed.  I made the bed.  Then, I walked out into the kitchen and I didn't look toward the living room.

I don't know why I am getting these feelings now.  I can feel like he is near--and I know, that cannot be.  If I "feel" he is near, it is something my own mind has conjured up because dead people do not come back with their spirits flitting around us.  Their souls are gone to another place and if that place is Heaven, they couldn't care less what is happening back here.