In yesterday’s California election, I had the opportunity to consider abolishing our current spring and fall clock-changing routine. Well, not exactly. More accurately, I got to say “yes” or “no” to giving our legislature the power to make such a choice, should they have a two-thirds vote if the measure is ever presented.

Although this vote will produce no immediate changes, I still consider it a step in the right direction. Even the possibility of replacing only eight months of daylight saving time in favor of having the savings year-round sounds wonderful to me. If you suffer from depression as I do, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Each year, I feel the gloom settling in as the days get shorter. Regardless of what’s going on in my life, my outlook tends to become as dark as the days do. I’m sure there are many explanations for why this happens. One possible reason is I have less time to walk out the door. My fibromyalgia symptoms are often more severe earlier in the day, so I tend to exercise in the afternoon. I’ll use almost any excuse to avoid exercising, so when it gets dark at 4:30, the approaching twilight is one of my best excuses. Given the importance of exercise in controlling my symptoms, especially depression, this is not good news for me.

But it’s not only me. Early darkness limits many lives. Often, people who are just a bit older than me or who have various health conditions have difficulty driving in the dark. They routinely choose to attend afternoon meetings and commitments to avoid night driving. When darkness falls at 4:30 p.m., even getting home from an afternoon activity becomes a challenge. Saying “no” becomes the only option.

I must admit that I’m not, nor have I ever been, a farmer. Because this time change was initially for their benefit, there may be reasons for this inconvenience I don’t understand at all. But given all the mechanization on farms today, I’m wondering whether even they still prefer this interruption we go through twice a year. I guess the election results will tell us about that. What does make sense to me is that any such change should actually be made at the federal level so that all the states are uniform.

Maybe it’s just my fibro fog, but it’s challenging for me just to calculate what time it is for friends and relatives living in a different time zone than mine. Are they ahead one or two hours? Or are they behind? To also need to factor in whether their particular state has daylight saving time will make it almost impossible to decide when and if it’s an appropriate time to place a phone call. Of course, on days when my fibro fog is particularly bothersome, I don’t call anyway. On those days, having a rational or meaningful conversation can be a chore in itself. Deciding on the time to do it is just another difficulty I don’t need.

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