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Editor’s Note: This Lark Not a Fan of Permanent Daylight Saving Time

We’ll forget for a minute that messing with our time is probably not the most efficient use of their time in Congress. We’ll even forget for a minute that this, of all the pressing congressional concerns, is the one topic that appeared to unite all senators for an afternoon.

With those things suspended for the length of time it takes for me to say this, I’ll say that the thought of a permanent daylight saving time makes every lark across the land shudder and reach for the amped-up, 5,000 IU version of vitamin D.

Daylight saving time is great for night owls and anyone else who prefers their light on the back end of days. For larks, the lighter the earlier the better.

It’s bad enough when we spring forward to daylight saving time in March. At that point, it’s starting to get light around 6 am (dawn is officially about 6:30 am then). But then we spring forward, and in the time it takes to dial the clocks forward, we’ve wiped out an hour of morning light gain. 

People are happy because it’s light when they get home upon springing forward. This offers zero solace for morning people.

A Washington Post article published a map showing how early it would be light in the depths of winter under a permanent daylight saving time across the nation. In Door County, we’re looking at an 8:30 am sunrise in December. Seriously – we might as well live in Alaska.

Because many of us now seem to be wasting time on this, maybe we can let our U.S. representatives know what we think. It still has to go to them before it would go to President Biden, and last I looked, they were mulling not only when they’d look at it, but whether.

Larks, unite!