So, members of the U.S. Senate can’t agree on things really important to the country; like the economy, the future of COVID responses, or what to do to help the people of Ukraine, but they can pass a bi-partisan “Sunshine Protection Act.”
Like the sun really needs protection. Last time I checked it seemed to be doing just fine all by itself.
The idea of not messing with the clocks and all our sleep patterns sounds fine and dandy at first glance. Keep the summertime light going so we can all have more fun in the evenings, but… Wait! What about in the winter when kids will have to go to school in the dark? And folks will be driving to work in the dark? That could lead to more accidents and doesn’t seem worth an extra hour at the golf course this summer.
Why can’t we just split the difference and only “fall back” a half hour in November then leave the time alone?
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Now, because there seems to be nothing else worth saying about that absurdity, I’m going to turn the blog over to my friend Slim Randles and his friend Windy Wilson.
There was something new in the noisy portable commercial that was Windy Wilson’s way of spreading the news around town.
“Pardners and pardettes,” came the familiar voice from the Gates of Heaven’s loudspeaker car, “you ever stop and listen to your innermoist partitions when it comes to books? No? Well, doncha think it’s time? A-course it is! And thass perzackly why you should head on over to the good ol’ Read Me Now bookstore.
You know where it is. Hey, s’only bookstore we got. Jes’ cruise on over to the section she calls “Love and other fiction,” and a-fore you can say Robinson Croozer, Sarah McKinley, herself, will come over to help.
“Sarah knows where all the good ones are. Hey, you want one a-them books to keep you awake all night? She knows which ones’ll do that. You wanna fall asleep fast? Ask her for A Cowboy’s Guide to Growin’ Up Right by Slim Randles.”
Windy turned the car around at the edge of town and started back.
“And while you’re assumptionin’ all that there wisdom from the books, keep in mind this year phrase … Why, I bet ol’ Windy coulda wrote one or two a-them books his ownself. And you know, thass why you’ll prolly write to the folks at Oxford Shoes University or mebbe Notorious Dames University ‘bout getting’ ol’ Windy his very own honorary degree.
“Now while you’re puttin’ all them keen sentences together, might jes’ as well do it down at Delbert Chin’s Gates of Heaven Chinese joint. You see, Delbert’ll give you some tea and mebbe some a-that good muleshoe pork while you’re busy writin’ that letter for Windy on them free gen-oo-wine paper napkins.
“All you rilly need is a pencil or somethin’ else to write with. And think what a great way this’d be to say much obliged to all the cowboy camp cooks you know.”
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Pick up “Home Country: Drama, dreams and laughter from the American heartland.” www.lpdpress.com.
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Check out all of Slim’s award-winning books at his Goodreads Page and in better bookstores and bunkhouses throughout the free world.
All of the posts here are from his syndicated column, Home Country that is read in hundreds of newspapers across the country. I am always happy to have him share his wit and wisdom here.
Slim Randles is a veteran newspaperman, hunting guide, cowboy, dog musher, and an all-around good guy. He was a feature writer and columnist for The Anchorage Daily News for 10 years and guided hunters in the Alaska Range and the Talkeetna Mountains. A resident of New Mexico now for more than 30 years, Randles is the prize-winning author of a dozen books, and is host of two podcasts and a television program.
I certainly agree with you on these outdated time changes. It would be great for congress to spend some time on what really matters!
When you were actively farming, did you like the longer hours in the summer? Giving farmers extra daylight was one of the “reasons” given for doing it in the first place, but since farmers work from sunup to sundown, it doesn’t matter what a clock says. At least, that’s always been my thought.
The clock didn’t matter, it was always sunrise to sunset. I still stick to that. I never liked sending kids to school in the dark.