In this polarized world of “there are two kinds of people,” there seems to be one thing that unifies us all—no matter who we voted for—and that is the nearly universal contempt people have for Daylight Savings Time. You’d think losing an hour of daylight was equivalent to being physically dragged from your home, stuffed into a car and taken somewhere you’ve never been for a indeterminate time.* Which in fairness, does sound pretty bad.

We are again reminded of the rarefied moment that the Senate unanimously voted to end this madness of changing the clock, of shifting time back and forth based on some anachronistic agrarian tradition. But as usual, Congress, while it was actually in session, amazingly,† didn’t get its shit together to take it up. Changing the clocks; spring forward, fall back, again and again until we die. If they couldn’t ultimately get that done, what hope do we have of them doing something actually substantive?‡

Anyway, Daylight Savings Time. It’s here. It’s happening. Again. It does have a bad rap. Due to the change of light, there is roughly a 13% increase in fatal pedestrian and biking accidents in the US. In Denmark, reports of depression go up about 8%.§ And in the US, hospitals report an 11% uptick in patients coming in with depressive symptoms.¶

However, there are also some things to love about falling back! An extra hour of sleep, for one, and who doesn’t need that these days?# Also, there are fewer traffic accidents in the mornings right after the time change in the fall since the mornings are lighter. Also? Early darkness means early pajamas on the couch time if that’s your jam.**

And let’s not forget, cozy fall cooking! You can’t roast a chicken or make a squash soup or bake pumpkin bread in July, silly. Once the temp drops below 50 and the sun goes down by 5, you can indulge in all these homey autumnal cooking tasks that will fill your belly and warm up your house.††

I am personally one of the few who love this time of year. When the dark comes on quick and cozy and you can pretend that the whole world has fallen away outside your windows and it’s just you and your family and whatever anxieties are cropping up that particular day. It’s a wine-before-five time of year when it’s dark enough early enough that drinking a glass of vino on a video meeting on a Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. won’t raise an eyebrow. It’s a time of year for sweaters and apple-based snacks and pumpkin-forward beverages,‡‡ and wondering how psychotically early people will start putting up holiday decorations.

Welcome to the end of the year, everyone!§§ Count your blessings and try not to let it get you down!

*Shall we ask any number of the people—migrants and US citizens alike—swept up off the street by masked people cos playing law enforcement? They may have some insight into the nature of darkness.

†The 119th Congress of the United States has been out of session since September 19, 2025.

‡This shutdown ain’t ending anytime soon.

§Denmark is pretty far north, so when their days get shorter, they get a lot shorter—to the point where daylight barely happens at all. Now, that is truly something to complain about.

¶Not saying this stat is false, but who the hell are these people with the kind of insurance that allows them to roll up on a hospital like that? Did they not need pre-authorization? How on earth had they met their deductible? How did they not have to wait months for an appointment? Seriously, stats like this are questionable only because the US healthcare system is so fucked it defies belief that anyone would be able to successfully engage with it. But, then again, we are living in the United States in the year 2025. That is enough to supercharge anyone’s seasonal affective disorder to the point where it’s your copay or your life, so you’re taking your ass to the ER. I’ll bet that 11% ticks up a bit more this year due to darkness of a more national existential nature. But who knows?

#If you’re sleeping at all these days, that is.

**Where you’ll have the intention of reading a book or watching some interesting movie or show but really you just end up doomscrolling your way to a sufficiently catatonic state to fall into something like sleep.

††Assuming, of course, you can afford the groceries.

‡‡And dread, of course. Warm, cozy dread.

§§The end of America, possibly? The whole world?