Awaken with the Dawn: Call Alaska Legislators

Contributed by Dr. Anna Altair

This morning I was awakened by the sunshine coming into my window.
So nice, so natural, and so welcoming is the sunshine.

This was happening 3 weeks ago.  Then we "sprang forward" and all got to wake up in the dark for 2 more weeks - as if we hadn't had enough darkness during winter.

Let us abolish the “Spring Forward Daylight Savings Time.”
Let us simply use Alaska Standard Time all year!

I remember thinking in 2004, what a silly notion DST was, especially for AK, who had daylight nearly 24 hours in the summer.  Now that I have endured it 12+ years, this notion gets dumber and dumber each year. I get 4 weeks of blinding sun in my eyes coming and going to work instead of only 2 weeks.  Not good.  

In the fall, I feel forced into darkness too quickly in the afternoons.
In the spring, I feel forced back into darkness in the morning.

From a Health Standpoint:

•    Our circadian rhythms are interrupted when we switch from one time to the other.  
•    Our bodies are in tune with the Earth and she doesn't switch times. She is constant. 
•    Depression- Many people display SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and use light therapy to help them. 
•    Overeating- Especially ice cream, and much more in the dark months. It goes along with the SAD and the depression.  
•    MVA - Motor vehicle accidents are increased when our time changes.
•    Alcohol - Use increases.
•    Suicides- Increase.

Daylight Saving Time was invented in 1916 by Germans who thought it helpful to work in the fields longer. It is 100 years later and it doesn't seem to resonate with society in 2016.  The concept has expired its usefulness and necessity.  Arizona and Hawaii do well without it.

It was fun when I was a kid and could stay outside and play until 9 or 10pm because it was still "light out".  Getting children to bed is a challenge at any time ------ (Another story).

There is a bill in our Alaska Legislature to abolish DST. 

Your "Call To Action” is:

Call your legislator this month to ELIMINATE "Spring Forward in 2017"
Order is the way of the universe. Let us be in this order.

Anna Altair,DC is a Chiropractic Physician in Mat-Su borough.  She has been in the valley since 2004, her clinic is on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. She believes "We are all here to thrive and good health is your birthright".  907-357-1818.