by Jim Snyder

Created on: November 02, 2009   Last Updated: November 03, 2009

It seems as though every year when it's time to turn my clock back, I think how ridiculous it is that we still adhere to this archaic time-honored tradition. Even though many of my clocks adjust themselves, it still irks me that I yet have to change the time on several, the car's being the worst.

I can never remember how to change the infernal device in the first place, so I end up not watching the road as I maddeningly push and hold buttons that do almost everything but adjust my clock. And you know what, even with the time change, it's still fairly dark out in the morning, and there are deer and Amish running wild on the streets.

But aside from the mild inconveniences and another impetus to be crabby about something, I think I would miss the subtleties inherent in the ritual. I can guarantee that I would bitch and moan about its being gone. For one thing, aside from those in the alcohol distribution arena, it is not an overly-consumerized function.

How many societal ritualized traditions do we have left that can boast this lack of crass commercialism? And then there's that little saying: spring forward, fall back. I'd hate to see that relegated to Trivial Pursuit questions that those born after a certain date can't fathom, like according to Hoyle or not worth a plugged nickel.

As you might guess, I live in a rural agricultural area that has a large Swartzentruber Amish population and abundant wildlife. Obviously neither the Amish nor the deer benefit nor lose anything because of the construction of the seemingly arbitrary time change ritual.

Nor, I suppose do most agricultural folk for whom this bizarre practice was ostensibly intended. But, honestly, are those good enough reasons to abandon it altogether.

I like the romance of it. Autumn in Ohio is an amazing occurrence, especially for those of us who still can feel the awe of the turning, falling and burning leaves, the harvest activities, the apple cider, the pumpkins, the hay rides, the Halloween rituals, and on-and-on.

Even surrounded by all this rustic beauty and charm, there is no time of the year that brings me closer to the workings of Nature and Man's eternal struggle to exist within it. I don't want to lose any of it; including asking my wife every week in October when we need to turn the clocks back.

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