Mood Changer: Daylight Savings Time in New Hampshire Begins

It's almost here, and it's a game changer in New Hampshire and New England.

To all those who hate (yes, a strong word) switching clocks back an hour and forward an hour, this is the one that gives us the best boost in our mood.

We've been battling with the unofficial seasonal defect disorder of winter for months. Shorter days, more darkness than we can handle, and not enough natural vitamin D from sunlight creates a winter mood that's dreary.

Look at a map.  Do you see how far north and east New Hampshire and Maine are?  The rest of the country doesn't realize how dark it is at 3:30 pm during winter.

Even if you love winter and enjoy winter games and sports, there's a point where going out to dinner in January when it's dark at 4pm gets to us mentally.

Face it, we have enough mental health issues without creating more darkness.

Why is there a time change?  It started back in the 1800s in Germany, and spread throughout countries for economic reasons.  According to Time.com, it wasn't for the farmers to have more daylight, but for people to have time to shop and golf after work, allowing more leisure time and more spending.

Time goes on to say the baseball and golf industries skyrocketed following the 1918 implementation of Daylight Savings Time.  As for energy savings, it doesn't really save much.

While there's been much debate about the time change, DST is one sure sign of spring. Less darkness after a workday when Daylight Savings Time goes into effect every second Sunday in March is a mood-lifter.

Yes, this Sunday we spring forward at 2 a.m., and on Monday morning, it's a new version of the day when you get out from work and it's still light.

Hallelujah for DST each spring.