Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

The latest governmental effort to screw with the clocks has left the House of Representatives and has been dropped in the lap of the Senate.

The “Sunshine Protection Act” (HR 139) passed the House by a vote of 308-117.

If approved by the Senate (probably unlikely), this bill would eliminate the twice-a-year clock changes were currently perform by making Daylight Savings Time permanent.

\Before I proceed, I must voice opposition to the bills’ name, “The Sunshine Protection Act”.

The only way Congress might protect sunshine would be to keep cleaning the air but this piece of legislation is more about Americans not having to mess with their various devices that tell time.

“The Clock Mess Protection Act” might be more approprate.

I always thought “Springing Forward” was much easier than “Falling Back” since were have about 15 different time pieces that need resetting.

Many items reset themselves automatically but our hallway chiming Cuckoo clock can be a task

Plus, there’s always one clock that gets overlooked.

Usually the battery-powered gem on the back porch or the one in my wife’s craft room always seem to get overlooked.

So, how do you feel?

Do you support permanent Daylight Savings Time or keep it the way it is?

Or, try something else?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advocates for permanent standard time.

That organization believes that’s more aligned with our natural circadian rhythm..

The AASM saiy we’d have better sleep health, few cardiovascular issues and improved overall wellness.

“Circadian rhythm” is our body’s internal 24 hour biological clock that regulates our sleep/wake cycle, hormone release, digestion and body temperature.

In 1966, “Barry James Keefer” (Keith) sang “98.6”, a metaphor for health and vitality.

It was a million-seller single that got to #7 on the Billboard chart.

(By the way, background vocals were sung by The Tokens, the “Lion Sleeps Tonight” group.)

Today, the normal body temperatures range from 97 to 99 degrees although an oral temperatures of 98.6F is considered an average healthy baseline reading.

Back to circadian rhythm.

This is primarily in response to natural light and darkness.

Your “master clock” is located in a tiny part of the brain’s hypothalamus.

Light exposure to your retina signals the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) that it is daytime.

That, in turn.supresses the release of the sleep hormone melatonin while ramping up release of the stress hormone cortisol.

When darkness comes, the SCN produces melatonin.

Typically, we go from roughly 15 hours of the daylight in the summer (summer solstice) around June 21st to about 8+hours in the winter (winter solstice) around December 21st.

Now, with my current work schedule, I hit the sack when it’s still light outdoors.

I have to con my retinas into believing it’s dark when it isn’t./

I think the real issue with most over switching between standard and Daylight Savings is the actual switching of clocks.

But research indicates the “spring ahead” move results in a 24% spike in heart attacks, an increased stroke risk, more fatal traffic accidents and a jump in workplace injuries.

It’s not that DST kills us, it’s the move forward and back each year that screws things up..

PERMANENT Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time would be a better health move.

As a kid growing up in northern Ohio, we rose with the sun and played till it got too dark to see.

Baseball, tag and “army” were played in the daylight and we switched to “hide and go seek” or “
kick the can” at night.

Several of us when we were in junior high built model cars with moveable wheels and we’d race them down a dirt track in “the woods” under the light of kerosene-soaked cat tails

(We probably violated at least a half-dozen health and EPA regulations with that smoky mess!)

Remember in 1974, during the “energy crisis, Congress instituted year-round DST but repealed it in less than a year due to the early morning darkness while kids were going to school.

With fewer walkers and bike riders these days, that might not stir up the masses like it did more than a half-century ago.

Personally, I’d go for year-round standard time but since I’m in Indiana, CST would make more sense to me.

I’m all for setting the clocks and leaving them alone.

Just don’t mess with my Pelee Island sunsets on Scudder dock in the summer.