Category: Uncategorized

Saving Daylight

Those who know me are probably tired of hearing my opinions this time of year and again in the spring when we adjust our clocks to accommodate “Daylight Savings Time.” If you are one of those people, please pardon me if you’ve heard this before. But what I like to point out is that, as much as we would want to, there is no way that we can “save daylight.” When the idea of Daylight Savings Time was conceived, giving it that name made it easier to get buy-in because it does sound good. If you like doing outdoor activities in the evening it’s great in early March when you suddenly have an extra hour of daylight in the evening after you finish work. But, if like me, you are a morning person and enjoy outdoor activities first thing in the morning, then it’s depressing to look outside and see that it’s still dark when you want to go out.

So, for me, this morning’s run before sunrise was a time of rejoicing that we had set our clocks back yesterday. I no longer had to run my double circuit around the SIPI campus to take advantage of the street lights. The sun wasn’t up yet, but there was enough daylight that I could once again go back out on my run through the Bosque. As I got on the levy road the trees were beginning to glow from the brightness of the sun just about ready to come over the Sandias. Several flocks of cranes flew overhead on their morning flight from bedding down overnight in the river to feeding in the SIPI fields during the day. Crossing the ditch and getting on the road behind SIPI I could see the sun hitting the tops of the golden cottonwood trees up ahead. And, best of all, as I came around the SIPI fields, there was a flock of several dozen cranes chattering and munching in the field.

All of that I would have missed if we were still on Daylight Savings Time. It would have happened after I had finished my run and we were sitting down at breakfast. God’s creatures don’t adjust their meal times and sleep times to accommodate what man decides to use as the current hour on the clock. The only way we will get more daylight is to look forward to December 21 at the winter solstice when the days will once again start to have more daylight hours and less hours of darkness.

The End of the Road


My trucking adventure has come to an end, and although it will be nice to get a shower and regular bed tonight, it was very sad to see the Celadon truck leaving the truck stop in Houston this morning and I wasn’t riding shotgun anymore. Starting December 26 from Brackettville, TX, going up to Georgia, Tennessee, and New York, then back down to Tennessee and Indiana, then up to Chicago and back down to Indiana and Georgia, my ride ended in Houston, TX. Mike continued on with the load he needs to deliver in Laredo this afternoon. It made sense for me to stop here because it is easier to get back to Albuquerque from Houston than it would have been from Laredo.

In spite of all the hardships, it was an awesome two weeks and I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with Mike and get a better understanding of what the life of a trucker is like. When I’m back to being a passenger or driver of a “four-wheeler” I’m going to be more tolerant of the trucks zooming by on the highway or crowding into the truck stops. Those drivers work hard and it takes a special skill and knowledge to safely maneuver such a huge, powerful machine. In spite, of what Mike says that “anybody can learn to do it”, I certainly could not do all of what he had to accomplish to successfully meet the assignments he was given. It was challenging enough just to be a passenger!