Adjusting

The most difficult part of Daylight Savings Time is over for another year.  I flunked this year's initial adjustment to a certain extent.

The clock, which had been turned ahead, said 5:15 when I awakened yesterday.  That's almost 45 minutes later than my usual rise and shine, meaning much less time for sipping that first cup of coffee and catching up on overnight Internet stuff. 

After all, the horses would be waiting for their usual 6 a.m. breakfast, or would they? 

Hey, nobody told the horses about Daylight Savings Time, so maybe they'd be okay if I came strolling into the barn later than usual.

That was an option, but time does not stand still, and if I fed the horses and cleaned barns later than usual, that would set me back on my newspaper reading.  

And, yesterday was Sunday with the fat papers. 

Newspapers don't know it's Daylight Savings Time, and they could probably care less if they were read late, BUT tardy reading of my newspapers would set me back on posting my blog, and if that happened, these "morning duties delayed" would come back to haunt me. 

After all, Helen would be there at her house in town, waiting with her cup of tea and her sharp eye for Marianne's slight detours from language accuracy. 

And, if that blog showed up much past 8:05 a.m. yesterday, there could possibly be trouble at the Lovestead, and Helen would be sending off an email, asking "Is everything okay out there?" 

I also realized that I could not rest on the possibility that Helen might have forgotten to change her clock or that maybe she, like me, would have slept in.  

So, I kept myself on that 6 a.m. feeding schedule with a bleary brain and a body not quite ready for shoveling. 

The only noticeable difference in horse behavior yesterday:  Lily did NOT kick the side of her stall.   I think she was still waking up as I carried piles of hay to the barnyard.

So, the boards in her stall got some rest from that well-trained hoof which often strikes so hard that the nails lose their grip and one end of a board swings well into Lefty's stall.  

I have faith that Lily will quickly adjust to the earlier feeding time, and probably this morning I'll have to yell the usual "Knock it off!" as I walk by her stall with a pitchfork filled with hay.   

Of course, Lily's a smart horse and she understands English, so she'll probably kick a little harder to follow my instructions and knock that board completely off from the post where it's nailed.

Yesterday I also observed to see if the dogs arrived at the barn with their toys, precisely 30 seconds after the horses had started their breakfast in the barnyard. 

Their usual pattern is to escort me to the barn, bounding along with their smiles, then quietly return to the garage where they watch with those ever-vigilant Border Collie eyes to see exactly when that barnyard gate closes for the second time.

That's the cue for Kiwi to bring the coffee can, blue ball, pine cone or a piece of rolled up birch bark for me to throw two or three times while cleaning the barn. 

Daylight Savings Time failed to change their routine.  

As for me, my stomach didn't growl quite as early, I read the papers on time and posted that blog in plenty of time for Helen to do her proofreading.  

I see from Facebook that my assistant editor Cherry is on the road (where the speed limit is 80 mph.), and she's in another time zone, so she may not be providing her usual prompt back-up.

Well, we've gotten through that first rigorous day of Daylight Savings time, and this morning, it was business as usual as I awakened on time and noticed that Lily, although still a little slow at the punch, had her right hind leg ready to launch a swift kick as I led her out of her stall.  

Tomorrow we'll more than likely return to the daily "Knock it off." 

I noticed a couple of other adjustments to the time change yesterday.  

No turtleneck.  

Now, that apparel change doesn't often happen with the spring time change, but since we have such unseasonably nice weather, pushing into the 60s, I decided my usual three layers needed to be reduced.  

So, the turtlenecks will get a rest, at least temporarily.

What won't get a rest as long as the weather remains so nice is my bike.  It came out of storage after a long winter's nap which had allowed most of the air to escape from the back tire.

Bill aired up the tire for me, and after watching the news, I took my first spring bike ride down Selle Road.  

How soon we forget the wonderful sounds of early spring evenings as the assortment of neighborhood birds are singing their swan songs and those unsettled Canadian geese are honking as they fly from one pond to another. 

I noticed this morning too, even with the darkness due to the time change, that all the birds are early risers and happy enough to send their melodious morning tweets through the cool air. 

Yup, we have a lot of adjustments associated with our time change, but when it's spring, the sacrifice of that lost hour seems minimal compared to all the uplifting, vibrant days ahead. 

Happy Monday.  GO ZAGS!