50+ Lifestyles

PUBLISHER’S CORNER

By Eloise Graham

My Soap-Box Stance for November…

Let’s start at the beginning of the month. November 2, 2021 is Election Day. The date will change in any given year because Election Day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday. I vaguely recall that there is some sound reasoning for this, but don’t remember what it is. I just know that our Founding Fathers deemed it this way. I know that voting is a right, a privilege and a duty, something that should not be taken lightly. Okay, I will get off my soap-box about the duty and obligation of voting. I have expounded on that many times before.

Now for my soap-box rant on changing the time! This year, on November 7, we will “fall back” one hour. Psychologically speaking, this is NOT a good thing. Many of us become a little more depressed and melancholy as the daylight hours dwindle to darkness. We enjoy the sunlight hours of night and evening. Gradually the sundown becomes a little earlier, from late evening to mid-evening to early evening. Then, BAM, suddenly overnight, sunset is now late afternoon! Almost like a feeling of doom has entered the atmosphere. Not good for the psyche at all.

There is also the physical aspect of changing the time: all the clocks need attention. Granted, our smart phones, watches, computers and other updated devices now automatically change at the prescribed hour, but what about our stoves and microwaves? We have to go push buttons and sync the minutes to reset their clocks. Then there are the battery operated wall clocks that need to be changed. The clock needs to be taken off the wall, reset, then rehung. Sometimes that involves a ladder. I have four wall clocks, and two of them are always an hour off. It just seems easier that way. By now, most car clocks
have that internal sense that changes on its own, but older models don’t.

I remember one vehicle we had that took an engineering degree to change. I had to take the Owners Manual out twice a year – just to change the clock! Finding the directions for that took a degree in library science – how to read the Table of Contents and such. Looking under “clock” you would get a picture of the dash showing where the clock was positioned and how to read it. I don’t remember now where I finally found the directions to change the time. It wasn’t located at a place that made sense. Then I had to push three buttons simultaneously and with my free hand (all while holding the Owners Manual) push the up or down arrow that normally changed the radio station up or down. That had to be done for the hour, then repeated for the minute. If you messed up, you had to start all over!

And now for the grandfather of all clocks to change… you guessed it, the Grandfather clock! Or any clock that needs to be wound. These include chiming wall clocks, anniversary clocks, grandmother clocks, calendar clocks. I have a chiming calendar wall clock that needs to be wound every week. The time change in spring is no biggie. I simply physically move the hands forward one hour. But that won’t work in the fall. You cannot move the hands backwards because of the gears. They only go one way. This particular calendar clock has a second face that shows the day and month. So if I move the hands forward 11 hours, the calendar will be off by 1/2 a day. If I move it forward 23 hours, it will be off a full day. At least until the end of the month. So I have to remember to let the clock wind down and stop sometime that first week of November. Then I can wait an hour, or more and rewind it, starting it at the correct time.

Then, still on my soap-box of dislike for changing the hour, is the change in sleep habits! I used to say that I finally adjusted to the change of going to sleep and awaking after 5 and 1/2 months! Just in time to do it all over again. Now I don’t think I ever adjust to the change. Okay, off of my soap-box on this topic.
Now on to another soap-box to extol the gratefulness of our veterans, our military, all those that put service to their country above self. THANK YOU!
Veterans Day is November 11. Originally, it was called Armistice Day as a cease fire agreement was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. This happened in 1918 ending the Great War which later was called World War I. Armistice Day was set aside to recognize all of the Veterans of the war. Now on Veterans Day, we recognize all Veterans, living and those deceased, of all branches of service to our country. This is a great soap-box to be on!

My next soap-box is one of thankfulness. As a society, we need to be more thankful for all of our blessings. If we take the time to count them we have more to be thankful for than to complain about. Will you jump on this soap-box with me and have an Attitude of Gratitude? Bless you and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!