CONDON’S CORNER

MOTHER NATURE INSISTS WE USE STANDARD TIME YEAR-AROUND

© 2026 Marlene A. Condon All Rights Reserved 

 [Published September 6, 2026, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia]

 

MOTHER NATURE INSISTS WE USE STANDARD TIME YEAR-AROUND

 

Any day now, the Senate may get around to voting for making Daylight Saving Time (DST) our year-around reference for living our lives. That would be a huge mistake in many ways, and constituents need to let their senators know their thoughts as quickly as possible (or send this article to them with a personal signed note). Herewith some facts for you to take into account before putting your fingertips to the keyboard or your pen to paper.

 

Consider how hot the Earth has become, thanks to climate change. On the day I am writing this essay, the weather forecast is calling for a high temperature of 96 degrees today and 99 degrees tomorrow. In fact, temps in the 90s have been the norm this year, and who’s responsible for so many hot days? People.

 

The burning of fossil fuel (oil), the cutting down of trees, and the manufacturing of goods to lead our lives all have contributed to this intense warming. As it’s highly unlikely that these aforementioned activities are going to be altered anytime soon, it’s critically important to consider the effect of DST versus standard time (EST in my time zone) upon our activities.

 

As the coolest part of the day is early morning, that is the best time to, for example, get outside to work in the yard or to exercise in summer. At this time of year, both DST and EST allow an opportunity to get such things done early. But come the colder temperatures of fall and winter, the time standard you are on makes much more of a difference.

 

Fall and winter under DST means one can’t begin most outdoor tasks or activities until the Sun rises, which can be quite late. If you have a job, you won’t be able to get outside to get your tasks done before work, and as we move into winter, you also can’t get them done after work because the Sun will be setting quite early by clock-time.

 

Additionally, DST forces children to wait for school buses in morning darkness, which makes their welfare more of a concern. Drivers can’t see them as well if they enter or walk along the street.

 

Perhaps hardest of all for adults who work and children is having to wake up in morning darkness to get ready to start the day when our natural inclination is to be sleeping until the Sun is up.

 

In summer when it’s natural for just about everyone to want to stay up as long as the Sun is shining, it’s more difficult to get the sleep our bodies require to function properly and healthfully. People who don’t get their required number of hours (7-9) of sleep tend to live less long than those who do.

 

Consider this article at ScienceDaily that was published on January 10 of this year, “Sleeping less than 7 hours could cut years off your life”.

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260108231414.htm

 

“Researchers analyzing nationwide data found that insufficient sleep was more closely tied to shorter life expectancy than diet, exercise, or loneliness. The connection was consistent year after year and across most U.S. states. The takeaway is simple but powerful: getting seven to nine hours of sleep may be one of the best things you can do for long-term health.”

 

It’s not unusual for very young children, who are so full of vim and vigor, to often resist taking a nap during the day, though when required to do so, they will usually fall asleep. Even as young adults, we are not fully aware of the importance of rest so it’s understandable we want to just stay awake as long as possible instead of getting our required sleep.

 

And thus, the reason it is so terribly vital for our senators to vote in our best interest, which means to vote “no” for year-around DST that makes us lose vital sleep in summer. They should instead work to bring about a vote for maintaining standard time year-around, and do away with the nonsense of making their constituents change their clocks twice a year.

Mother Nature’s demand for standard time year-around is neither arbitrary nor capricious, which is to say it is not a stipulation lacking serious purpose, but rather one based upon absolute biological necessity.

 

CONDON’S CORNER

Everyone Should Be on Toddler Time (Standard Time)

[Published March 8, 2025, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia, and The News Virginian, the daily newspaper of Waynesboro, Virginia. Published by The Daily News-Record, the daily newspaper of Harrisonburg, Virginia, on February 20, 2025.] 

https://dailyprogress.com/opinion/column/article_93fe4ebc-fb2f-11ef-843a-7b3a97647af0.html?mode=comments#tncms-source=login

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © 2025 Marlene A. Condon All Rights Reserved 

Getting up early often enables you to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.  

Congress has tried—and plans to try again—to abolish the annoying twice-a-year ritual of changing clocks by placing the United States permanently on Daylight Saving Time (DST). But before making this extremely impactful decision, our representatives need to first consult our little people—those who don’t suffer from government foolishness and clocks, and know naturally when to wake up—our toddlers who function on toddler time (i.e., Standard Time).

 

A young child—not needing to follow arbitrary rules created by adults for adults—follows mandatory rules determined by the biological clock which humans and other organisms possess. A toddler instinctively wakes up early in the morning in time to be active during the first sunlit hours of the day, which is vital for his system to function properly. Adults benefit similarly; that first exposure to the Sun’s photons suppresses the production of sleep-inducing melatonin (a hormone), waking us up to take on the day!

 

An internal biological clock determines when an organism should be active and when it should be dormant. Known as circadian rhythms, they’re different for various organisms, but—in general— are based upon the variable rising and setting times of the Sun.

 

Obviously, these biological rhythms are important, or they wouldn’t exist. Every aspect of the natural world has a particular purpose that perpetuates life by helping organisms fit well into their environment. Humans, who don’t see well at night, are more suited to daylight rather than nighttime activity and therefore have biological clocks set to get them up and about in the morning. Mice, on the other hand, wake up as the light of day is fading in order to forage under cover of darkness to be less conspicuous to predators.

 

Humans, however, want to run their lives as they see fit; not as Mother Nature demands. Biologically, we are supposed to become less active as darkness is falling, with sleep eventually overtaking us so our bodies can clean up our internal system by repairing interior damage done during the day’s activity. Without sufficient sleep, your body gets into trouble because it doesn’t get these indispensable actions completed, such as restoring its immune system or cleansing its brain of toxic chemicals.

 

Unfortunately, most people are not at all aware of this essential-to-our-wellbeing purpose of sleep and thus treat slumber as a waste of time, which it surely is not. This lack of respect for good-quality and a good quantity of sleep is exactly why too many folks argue for permanent Daylight Saving Time that literally robs us of the sleep our bodies stipulate that we get.

 

Consider the practical implications of DST: In the eastern U.S., families need to stay up until almost 10 PM to watch fireworks on the fourth of July—a holiday often followed by a work day, which means adults won’t get the seven to eight hours of sleep they should get to perform well at their jobs. Staying up late every night continues all summer because no one wants to go to bed when the Sun is still up, creating a huge sleep deficit for young and old alike by the time autumn rolls around.

 

To get more sunshine, follow a toddler’s and preschooler’s example: Be an early bird. Rise shortly before the Sun, have breakfast, and enjoy those first rays of sunshine each day, as Mother Nature intended. You can reset your biological clock by going to bed earlier and awakening earlier. Soon it will come naturally—as it biologically should! 

 

Don’t let the manipulative use of language—such as naming the bill to make DST permanent, “The Sunshine Protection Act”—fool you into thinking you’ll somehow get more hours of sunlight, which, of course, is nonsense. The day is 24 hours long, no matter the system employed for making order of it, and the hours of sunshine versus darkness is independent of this artificially contrived system that ignores biology and therefore is, in plain speaking, stupid.

 

Much talk has taken place for decades about Americans not getting enough sleep and the dangerous consequences resulting from this situation, such as more vehicular accidents due to falling asleep at the wheel or poor reaction time, and stressed motorists confronting others (road rage), sometimes fatally. So how can Congress possibly take seriously the idea of keeping DST year around, when it’s not protecting sunshine, but rather, stealing sleep? 

 

To avoid such ill effects from lack of sleep as mental health issues, neurological concerns, changes in your appearance (such as dark, undereye circles), vulnerability to illness, weight gain, higher stress levels that contribute to heart disease and abnormal heart rhythm, and much more, according to the Cleveland Clinic, you should let your representatives know how inane DST would be year around. Tell them we all need to be on Toddler Time.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep

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