The gift of time

watch wrapped up as a giftTime is a precious commodity. This weekend, we will receive a rare and special gift: an extra hour in our busy lives.

Here are ten things I never seem to have time for that you can do with your extra 60 minutes from Daylight Savings Time:

  1. Get a head start on your holiday shopping. Adidas and Reebok outlets are featuring 40% off everything in the store this weekend as part of their friends and family event and Indigo has a special 25% promotion on
  2. Go for a long walk in the woods before deer hunting season starts
  3. Sort the stray socks on your dryer and see if you can find a match
  4. Make a prediction for Tuesday night’s U.S. election. Check out sites like oddssharkcom and Paddypower.com, both predicting a 75-90% chance of a Clinton victory
  5. Clean out your pantry or medicine cabinet
  6. Linger with family or friends after a meal over a bottle of wine
  7. Give yourself a manicure or pedicure
  8. Change the batteries in your smoke alarms and check your carbon monoxide detectors.
  9. Start the project you keep saying you’ll start but never have time for
  10. Sleep in

Guess which one I’ll be doing? So much for best intentions. What will you do with your extra hour? Leave a comment.

Roamin’ in the gloamin

Sun shimmering through trees
The gorgeous light of the gloamin

It’s fall, my favourite season. For me, the first days of fall are as bitter sweet as the orange-berried vine that grows in our fields this time of year. I am reluctant to bid summer adieu, but embrace the crisp days and cool nights and sweet smells of fresh apples and wood smoke in the air.

This is when I start counting down the days and hours before daylight savings time. I get home quite late, so I often only have an hour at home after work before it gets dark. This is my time to go roamin’ in the gloamin.

There is something very special about the light at this time of year in the evening–the way it shimmers and casts a soft glow over the landscape. It’s magical.

This week’s #Happy Act is to go roamin’ in the gloamin’. Having a lad or lassie by your side is optional (I usually just have my two big dopey dogs by my side).

About the song

I always thought Roamin’ in the Gloamin was an old Scottish folk song, but it was actually written in 1911 by Sir Harry Lauder. The song tells of a man and his sweetheart courting in the evening. Here are the words of the chorus:

“Roamin’ in the gloamin’ on the bonnie banks o’ Clyde.
Roamin’ in the gloamin’ wae my lassie by my side.
When the sun has gone to rest,
That’s the time we love the best.
O, it’s lovely roamin’ in the gloamin”

Dog in wooded path
Roamin’ in the gloamin with Murphy by my side