Daylight raving
Entry posted by swilkinson
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"Daylight saving time: Why are they saving it and where do they keep it?"
We went onto daylight saving last Sunday here in New South Wales, east coast of Australia. Luckily Bonnie blogged about daylight saving so I learned that in the US it doesn't change until 4th November so I got to chat on time. Actually I got there early and managed to have a fairly serious chat before the main crowd came in which was good too.
I am really enjoying the diverse cross section of people who come into chat. Some days we have serious moments as a newbie comes in and asks questions and sometimes we joke around and party on in our virtual world. It is good there are regular chatters who like each other, have pet names and enjoy each others company. It is also good that all that can be put aside if someone really needs a question answered or just some support to help them through a rough patch. It is good when we are sensitive to the needs of others.
I also chat on an Australian board called Dementianet. There are only a few people using that board which is a pity but a few of us manage to catch up with each other from time to time usually after 9.30pm as by then we all have our charges bedded down for the night. Looking after someone with dementia can be a lonely experience sometimes as just the thought that someone is mentally affected even by stroke, and somehow unbalanced, is too much for some "friends". Then add physical defects such as Ray has and the so-called friends turn and run. What wimps!
Of course daylight saving is tiring the first week or two. I get up pretty early but Ray is still struggling to get up. He has a shower nurse early on Tuesday and this week Jeff had to wait while Ray finished his breakfast to shower him. Today (Wednesday) and Saturday are our late mornings when I can sleep in till 8am , if I am lucky. The other mornings are earlier. Of course with the longer evenings we also have our evening meal later so the nights themselves seem shorter. You all know what I am saying here - WHERE DOES TIME GO?
Tomorrow we have some business to do, the shopping, pay some bills etc. Also Ray needs a haircut. Friday Ray has the morning minder but Scallywags are having a lunch out at a difficult venue so Ray is not going. We will have lunch out by ourselves and do something in the afternoon - maybe go to the beach if it is fine. He can sit on the sand and wriggle his toes. Can't put him in the water by myself, he is too unstable walking on sand, so sitting down is the best we can do. Maybe in the heat of the summer we will go and get the chair that goes in the water and the boys can take him into the water between them.
I like daylight saving. I was born in England and liked the long twilight in summer as that is when as a family we had picnics by the river or went for a long walk, usually with my little sister in a stroller. Occassionally we were taken out on our parents bikes. I had a "saddle" on the bar of my Dad's bike, he had been a long distance cyclist and was a powerful pedaller so I watched the countryside flash by. Ah, even now I can imagine that feeling of speed as my father pedalled furiously "racing" Mum who had my sister in a seat on the back of her bike. Mind you he always waited for her to catch up.
We have also sat out on the verandah together after our evening meal and just enjoyed watching night fall. It is peaceful listening to the crickets, watching the few black shadowy bats fly past. I like to listen as the day birds utter their last feeble cries and are replaced by the cries of the first of the night birds. And then the mosquitoes start to attack and we come back inside. It make a change from watching t.v.
I am making plans for next week when Ray is in respite and I hope to tackle the spring cleaning in earnest. If I get Trev to move the furniture away from the walls in one room each day then I might wash down the walls, clean the windows, change the curtains etc. I might - no money back guarantees...lol. And those extra daylight hours will come in handy.
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