If there are two months of the year that are downers for me, they’re November and February, both transitional months.
So, the turn of the calendar into November is typically greeted with sadness.
Halloween over, the rainiest month of the year, Christmas (highlight!) still nearly two months away, and the hated turning back of the clock to ensure a late afternoon and evening spent in the dark. (Note: I typically do my exercise walks in the late afternoon when the day is warmest and experts say it’s most beneficial for our health—and I’ve finished most of my day’s work.)
November’s main redeeming factor, for me, is the Grey Cup–documented as Canada’s largest party— and its three week build-up
Really I should take the month off for a trip to some sunny southern clime, but, alas, I have too much scheduled this month.
I thought we might get a break starting this year, though. Maybe the transition to winter would be a more drawn-out diminuendo.
To wit: we were promised that last spring’s time change would be our last. The November dreariness would be moderated by retaining a bit of late afternoon daylight (I almost typed “sunlight,” but that would be a bit optimistic for November, right?)
Apparently not. At least so I’ve heard via the grapevine. No one seems to have had the temerity to declare publicly that our government has reneged on the promise to keep us on daylight time, but word is we’re changing our clocks again this Sunday.
Apparently, we’re so tied to Washington and Oregon that we can’t change unless they do. Really?
And apparently, their legislatures have both passed statutes committing them to stick to Daylight Savings Time, too. But, apparently, they don’t have the power to do that without approval from their federal government. Really?
So we’re being held hostage by the U.S. president? Or is it the House of Representatives? Or the US Senate? Really?
We can’t make our own decision to not change our clocks? (Yukon has, Saskatchewan has, Creston has.)
At least I’ve got the Grey Cup to look forward to (if I don’t miss it by an hour). And the ski season. And . . . (oh yes, eventually Christmas).
Meanwhile . . .
I came across an article that noted that California (which, by the way, is also awaiting Washington to approve their elimination of the time change, but they want to stick to standard time, not DST) is, as I write, surpassing Germany as the world’s fourth largest economy, behind only the U.S., China and Japan. Of course, it’s not quite legitimate to compare a state to a country, but it does give us a snapshot of their economic clout. The article said it had already surpassed, in order, Brazil, France and Great Britain.
I had become interested in the topic when I heard that the entire Russian economy was only about size of that of Texas. Really?
I wondered: How far down the list is Russia? And where is Canada on the list? And why isn’t India there somewhere?
So I did an online search and found an article from Investopedia with the latest update as of Sept 1, 2022. The ranking is based on GDP, i.e., the total value of goods and services produced in that country within the last year. Of course, that varies with every rise or fall of a country’s currency compared to the others.
It differed a little from the earlier article, placing India at #6 and Brazil down at #12. Russia sat at #11.
Where is Canada? We sit in 9th place, 2 spots above Russia. But we sit in the #2 spot when it comes to GDP per capita. Not bad.
So, I think we should be able to stand on our own two feet when it comes to deciding whether or not to turn back our clocks.
Will someone please advise?
Or will we have to let our smart phones tell us when we wake up Sunday morning whether or not we’ve turned back our clocks (and conclude then, that they’re smarter than our politicians?)
Just wondering . . .
