Fall Back...Daylight Saving Time Ends for the Season

Spring Ahead, Fall Back. It's the way that those of us in the USA remember whether we will have to lose an hour of sleep (Spring ahead) or gain an hour (Fall back). Sunday morning at 2:00 am, Daylight Saving Time will end and won't return again until March. This basically means two things to me. 1) I will be able to see the sun rise again - it was getting to rise so late that I was already at my laptop working on my writing by the time it finally peeped over the horizon. Since sunrise is my favorite time of day, it was a sad thing for me to miss it. And, 2) I will be leaving work at the end of the day in total darkness instead of the last gloaming. Indeed, before Solstice finally happens in late December, it will be dark as early as 4:00 - 4:30 pm. Ick. But that's my tradeoff for my sunrise and it starts coming back so quickly after Solstice that it is a joy to watch.

The history of Daylight Saving Time is actually rather interesting. I wasn't aware that the US didn't even have standard time zones until 1918! Wow, what a confusion it must have been for travelers prior to that time. Daylight Saving Time became optional and done state-by-state until WWII when it was continuous from 1942 until 1945. Then its use returned to state laws and was optional. A national Daylight Saving Time Act was passed in 1966, but local exemptions could still apply. This set the dates from April through October. There were some variations in the start dates of Daylight Saving Time during the Energy Crises of 1974-75 but then the dates reverted back to April-October. The latest law of 2007 changed the dates, expanding from March-early November.

There are still areas of the nation that do not follow Daylight Saving Time. Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa and the state of Arizona (except for the lands of the Navajo Indian Nation) do not use Daylight Saving Time. Everywhere else in the USA do. If an area decides to follow Daylight Saving Time, they are required by Federal Law to use the mandated dates set by Congress. What a mess! All I know is that I will get an "extra" hour of sleep tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Have a fantastic weekend!

Finally Friday!

Although my Saturdays are actually my Friday....OK, let me digress and explain a bit here. I work on Saturdays, therefore they are actually what most people would call their Friday. Now...back on track. So, even though my Saturdays are actually my Friday, I plan to enjoy today. Of course, I plan the same thing every day, waking up in the morning and being amazed and pleased that I can spend another day writing, talking with people, meeting creative minds in my shop, and generally talking either in person or through printed words to people throughout the world. What a wonderful thing! I love it. So, I am going to embrace today, because I think a Friday in early November should be embraced and enjoyed.

I have a story in the works that is undergoing it's umpteenth "comb it with fine teeth" look-through. I'm a tinkerer, and I've learned a lot over the months of putting stories up to be looked at by my friends and acquaintences at my writers board (waving to my LC friends here). I have started learning what to look for in a good story and have tried to incorporate that into my writing. I have revised this one several times already, and thought I had it ready to pass on last night, but started reading it again. *sigh*. No, it's not ready to pass on yet. It still needs some more red pen (or use of the delete key in my case). So I will continue to edit it tonight and it will be the stronger for it. I'm very grateful for all of the lessons, LC friends. Very grateful indeed!

What will you do to bring a smile to someone today? It could be as easy as giving someone a hug, or maybe a piece of chocolate, or maybe carrying a bag for them, opening a door for them, or telling them that their dress/shirt/jewelry is lovely. But do it. Bring a smile to someone today because each smile brightens our all-too-dark universe :-)

Solstice Cards...Do You Want One?

I actually got a lot done yesterday. I finished up my "Feast" story, now I need to get a quick beta on it, but that's not a problem. I did get some work done on my repair, although not as much as I had hoped. I got a chapter done for my writing friend in Germany, and did my errands, etc.

I cut quite a few cards with the new blades that I had received. I'm having all sorts of problems with the design I chose, though. It is very detailed, and it just isn't cutting through well. The blades get micro-pieces of paper kicked up into them and get filled with impacted paper fragments. These used to be cleaned out by unscrewing a collet around the blade. The new blades, however, are permanently sealed into an adjustable housing which is ratcheted from one depth to another. These can't be unscrewed to dump the paper buildup. I got 10 cuts from one blade and then switched to another which I had to spend a huge amount of time cleaning after each cut. My goal was 50 cards. I have made less than 20 in three studio days of trying. I can cut some at work because the program is also on my laptop, but I'm not very happy with the progress of my cards right now. I'll solve this, and my cards will be sent out on time (or close to). Each card will be sent with something special - I have several things that I've been planning throughout the year for my cards this year.

SO....Here's the deal. If you want a Solstice Card from me this year, and you're a member of my F-List, send me a personal message with your mailing address and I'll put you onto my mailing list. When I reach the max that I either can make or have time to make, I'll switch to store-purchased cards, but those are usually pretty nice too. Long-time friends and family members don't have to worry about contacting me...I know who you are amd I know where you live - LOL.

All Souls Day

Finishing up the triad of days that celebrate the dead, today is All Souls Day. The Catholic Church, in it's heavy-handed way, had decided to move All Saints Day (which was celebrated yesterday with Dia de la Muerte) from March to the beginning of November to help offset the pagan celebration of Samhain. But the church was always focused on the high, and rarely acknowledged those teeming masses that allowed them to celebrate mass in a filled church, collect lots of great stuff and allowed them to build some of the most marvelous architectural structures in the world. They began to allow cracks in their armour when they established All Souls Day. Today is a celebration for ALL of the dead - all of them, not just the Saints or highly placed people. So, today, think back on those who made a difference in your life and acknowledge their actions. You are a better person because of their influence and perhaps they were also enriched by you.

Today is also my studio day. As usual, I will be starting out with breakfast and a list of errands. But when I get home, I'll set up my Silhouette with a new blade, and continue making my Solstice Cards. Hopefully I'll get some good results today, I need some increased speed in the making of these... I will also try to continue working on a repair that I promised by Thanksgiving because I have one more repair hanging in the wings, and with my "spare" time I also have one story to beta and three others to write... I guess I'll be busy trying to be creative. Life could be SO much worse.

So, hug your children today, talk to an elder, phone your parents and tell them how important they were in your life. Touch another person in some way. Both of you will be enriched by the interaction. Goddess bless!

A Season of Celebration Continues

So yesterday was Samhain (and thank you to the many friends who sent me greetings for the holiday). Today is the beginning of Dia de los Muertos. People will visit their beloved dead, building altars at the graves of deceased family members and leaving food offerings, flowers, and the beautifully decorated sugar skulls that the holiday is known for. Unfortunately, my dead are several states away from me, and we have never celebrated at the grave of my mother-in-law whose plot is actually quite close to us. So any sugar skulls I might have available to me are ungifted except for the one I give to all of you below.

We had a lot of trick-or-treaters last night - more than we have ever had in the past. I began getting them around 7pm and turned my lights out at 9pm. I must have had at least 50 college students, all appropriately costumed out. I think the camel was my favorite, there was an "arab" woman who led her "camel" via a leash. The two of them were very cute. There were lots of great zombies, a witch or two, and just general good times concocted by active imaginations. I loved the creativity they were showing. I had a lot more guys this year, I'd say a 2:1 ratio of women to men. The students go around in packs of three to more than a dozen and I give two pieces of good candy to each, so we went through a lot of candy. That made me very happy because I would rather see it on other people's hips instead of my own :-).

A story of mine, "Harvester of the Dead" actually tied for First Place in the ALEC contest for September. I am enjoying my 15 seconds of very transitory joy to the max. But I do feel that I should be writing "Thank You" notes to my friends Aearwen and Fiondil for having not entered stories in that month. Their skills are far above mine and I always lose to one or both of them - justly so. But still, I am pretty stoked that I actually got a win after not even getting an honorable mention the prior month. Enjoy All Saints Day.

Good Samhain to You

Today is All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween. The East Coast has gotten buried by an unseasonal snow storm (so happy that it is over there instead of here in the Midwest) and some towns are postponing Halloweed celebrations until Friday! Wow. I can visualize some very cold covens celebrating in the woods tonight.

Samhain is a time when the lines blur between the living and the dead. Probably NOT a good time to go and see Paranormal Activity 3, which I've heard is extremely scary. I've always wondered why spirits would want to be bothered staying around here. There is a whole universe to explore after death, it's got to be a real trip!

So, as you eat your Halloween candy and watch Ghost Hunters Live tonight between answering the door bells in your homes to costumed folk of all ages, remember those who have walked before us. They still have lessons to teach us and if we learn them, then maybe they can continue on into the Light. Good Samhain to all of you.