Don’t be fooled by the beautiful Saturday we just had, or by forecasts for 70-degree weather at the end of this week. The bone-chilling, dismal time that winter can be is looming.
There’s been just a touch of chill in the air. Today is shorter than yesterday. And tomorrow will be shorter than today. And so on and so on until Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year, also known as the winter solstice. That’s when in the northern hemisphere the sun is furthest south.
By then, most of us will be in the spirit of the Christmas season and December’s shorter days will seem more festive than gloomy.
The point is that the coming weekend is the first in November and also when in most states, but not all, people are supposed to turn their clocks back when we gain an hour overnight in the dreaded Fall Back end of Daylight-saving time for another year.
It doesn’t mean, obviously, that just because the days are short and cold that they necessarily have to be more depressing than days that are longer and hotter.
What it does mean, however, is that when darkness comes an hour earlier Sunday, many of us will not be happy.