Something Else Weird About Arizona: Daylight Savings Time

... or rather, the lack thereof.

My husband works on Sundays now, and starts at a time that seems ungodly because of his other hours: 8 am. So, he had to use an alarm clock to get up in time, and like any other person in this day and age, he uses his phone as an alarm clock.

The company has programmed the system to help out everyone and automatically adjust for daylight savings. In Arizona, we do not observe said hour adjustment, so the alarm, synced with the phone and its helpful adjustment feature, went off an hour too early, and we lost an hour's sleep like everyone else, anyway!

I think daylight savings time is one of the wonders of the modern world. Twice a year, we get most of the country to participate in a global synchronization that reminds us that time isn't real and we're all just agreeing to a certain system. It boggles the mind.

The really weird thing, though, is the way some other Arizonans talk about daylight savings time as if it affects them. "The change," they say. "Next week, after the change, we'll have crazy long daylight hours." As if the sun suddenly decides to linger a little bit longer over Arizona just because all the states around us have fiddled with their clocks. It remains to be seen if there's something to that, or if we've all got Valley Fever lodged in our brains.

I've heard that longtime residents are sick of newcomers who moan about the flora, fauna, and weather, but I can't help but marvel at this place and occasionally find it strange. There really is nowhere else like it in the world, so every time I point out something unique about it, consider it awe instead of complaining.

This Saguaro, in the Saguaro National Monument,  shows its perseverance. The arms droop in a frost, but in favorable conditions, they can continue to grow upwards again, creating these swooping tangles.