I think it would work better if we decided to fall forward, spring back

If I had it my way, we would move our clocks forward one hour in the fall and back one hour in the spring. Presently it is opposite of this and Sunday we will move our time pieces back one hour.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

I think my suggestion is better and here’s why: Soon it will be getting dark just after 5 p.m. For our mental health we need more light, especially in the gray days of winter. On the other hand, during the summer, we now need more darkness because of the blistering heat during the daylight hours.

To back up my suggestion here is a recent bit of information I read in the New York Times:

“Globally, average temperatures broke a string of monthly records this summer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

June was the warmest June; July was the warmest July and August was the warmest August. September was also, by a record margin, the warmest September.

As humans continue adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, record-breaking heat will become even more common, as will extreme weather events like droughts, wildfires and floods.

This summer alone, floods ravaged Vermont and upstate New York; the seawater in South Florida was so hot it felt like a Jacuzzi; choking smoke from vast Canadian wildfires enveloped the skies over the Northeast and Midwest.”

The newspaper also reported that many outdoor workers were choosing to work at night because of the heat.

I did take under consideration those who get up early in the winter. It is usually dark no matter which time difference we go by. Some may prefer the light in the A.M. versus the P.M. but there is no argument that we would benefit more in the summer by escaping some of the heat by moving the clocks back.

The one benefit we will get this Sunday is an extra hour’s worth of sleep. Enjoy!

• Last week I saw the movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” It is a good movie. But the reason I’m writing about it is because of a short scene at the end of the movie that took me back to my radio days while in college.

Many years ago, before television, we listened to radio shows. Most were live shows, and they drew a big audience, not only over the air waves, but also in the theaters where they were performed.

The cast would stand around a microphone and talk out the scenes. There would be sound effects and an orchestra would play to make it all sound real.

Although we didn’t have a live orchestra, we used music from records to enhance the mood. But it was the sound effects that I found humorous. We had the same situation that is shown in the movie.

If you ever listened or saw the movie with Garrison Keillor on Public Radio’s “Prairie Home Companion” you’ll know how they used the sound effects. Yes, I did that over 60 years ago. We had coconuts for horses galloping, a small door to open and shut, silverware to drop and several other things. The sounds made it real and let your imagination run wild!