The Days Are Getting Shorter But There’s Plenty of Light Left

Over the course of August we're losing one hour and seven minutes of daylight. On August 1 we had fourteen hours and seven minutes of sunlight. And on August 31 we'll top out at thirteen minutes of sunlight. This according to sunrise-sunset.og. And the days just get shorter from there.

It shouldn't be that surprising it happens every year. I noticed it last year while watching concerts at the State Fair. Or when driving home from work West towards Warrensburg.

The days have really been getting shorter for the past couple of months. June 20 to be exact, but it's not really noticeable. Especially here in the middle of the Midwest. We don't notice the days getting longer in late spring, and then slowly losing daylight as the calendar days creep up to the State Fair and the first day of school.

As a kid on my family's end of the summer road trips to Kansas City I never noticed it. And why would I? The sun was still in my eyes sitting in the outfield during batting practice at Royals stadium. There was still time for an evening swim at the hotel on the night we got in, before the game. And boy it was plenty hot in Kansas City. Hotter than late August in the Chicago suburbs.

On those late summer trips the signal to me that summer was winding down was that school was starting for the kids in K.C. There would be the story on the news about it. Or at church, yes we'd go to church if we were in town over a weekend, they'd be talking about school starting.

There was something eerie in my little kid mind about going back to the Chicago suburbs when all the kids in Kansas City were back in school. That combined with the let down that our summer trips were over except for the long ride home was enough to signal the end of summer. However it was when we'd get back from those late summer trips to KC when I'd notice the days getting shorter.

Our church, which was across the street, held a carnival each year the last weekend of August and the first weekend in September ending on Labor Day. It would be watching the rides spin with their lights dancing that I'd notice, usually that second weekend, that it was getting darker earlier.

Soon enough school would be in session, but I'd still be hanging out with friends after school. At least till dinner time. And any thought of it getting darker earlier really would vanish until we'd "fall back" into standard time.

And that's my point. There's still plenty of light for after dinner trips to the DQ for a cone. There's still plenty of days left to cook dinner on the grill. There's still plenty of light to let the kids toss the football around after dinner. There's still plenty of hot days left for a splash in the pool. And by the end of September when the sun sets for the last time after 7:00. Well we'll be looking forward to cooler weather, fire pits in the back yard, and a pile of leaves for the kids to jump into.