Egg day: let there be light

I haven't tried it yet, but once I finish cleaning the barns, I'll come inside and see if it works. After all, it's Christmas cookie baking time, and the refrigerator has eggs aplenty. Folks have told me, and I've done some reading on it, that today is the day to stand the eggs on end. The earth is supposed to allow that on this very day. I'm going to make really sure that when I try this trick, the egg is located far from a counter edge.

Today is the day I live for every year---not because of the eggs---but more because once more we've reached the limit on darkness. I've been counting the days until Dec. 21 since Thanksgiving. After today, we return to the light, and that is a good thing. I've noticed past years that within just a few days after the winter solstice, the change seems just as dramatic as it does when we do that sudden switch to standard time at the end of October.

And, speaking of that, there's additional reason to be glad today. My daughter says the only decent thing President Bush has done during his presidency is to extend Daylight Savings Time. I won't comment on her assertion except to say that I do think it's very decent to extend Daylight Savings time. The only complaint I have is that they need to extend it longer.

Am I correct that we'll not return from Pacific Daylight time to Pacific Standard time until sometime in December, 2007? If that be true, I think we'll have a lot of happier people in the Northwest next year. And I've also heard that we'll start Daylight Savings time in February, 2008. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for now, I see nothing but good times ahead.

And, we can do all this by a simple signature on a piece of paper, followed by Tom Sherry reminding us during his weather report when the time comes to spring ahead or to fall back. Who could be upset about not having to fall back until December? Of course, some folks do like that extra hour of sleep in the fall, and they might be missing it on that October weekend when they've had too much Halloween fun.

Even though I don't go to work on an 8-5 shift, I can imagine how much happier all those folks are going to be when they're spared a little more time of leaving home in the dark and coming home in the dark. Think of how many deer will no longer die from the sheer numbers of people no driving home during those peak hours when deer want really badly to get to the other side of the road. There's a down side to all this, for the deer that is. I have a feeling that the hunters may eventually get a good deal out of this----two deer limit per year.

In essence, we've gots of reasons to be happy today. We have the promise of many moons ahead with much more light in our lives. Thank you, President Bush. I know you're responsible for every bad thing that happens in the world, and I know this is really a plot hatched by you to make your Presidency look a lot better by the time you get out of office because all those people will be in better moods because they're driving in the daylight and not wrecking their cars because of deer jumping into their headlights.

My dad used to say, "'Every little bit counts,' said the old woman as she peed in the ocean." I have a feeling President Bush heard that saying too, and he knows that this extra daylight savings will all add up in small ways and count really big when historians and the deer evaluate his presidency

I can't get too excited just yet because we still have to endure today's darkness, so while thinking about those brighter days ahead, I'll go try that egg trick. Then, I'll go tell the chickens that the egg really did come first because I've never tried balancing a chicken end to end on Winter Solstice---I probably won't either.

Go ZAGS! May the solstice force be with you against Duke tonight at 6 p.m. PST