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Wait, Kansas has to turn clocks back for daylight saving time? Didn’t lawmakers end it?

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Guest Columnist
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Kansas residents will soon gain an hour when they set their clocks back at 2 a.m. Nov. 5 for the end of daylight saving time, which began in March.

Fall officially began Sept. 23, and the sun is setting earlier while residents await cooler autumn weather.

Legislators in Kansas and across the U.S. have introduced many bills aiming to change the practice of “springing forward” and “falling back.” Here’s what to know about the state of daylight saving in Kansas.

Daylight saving time legislation in Kansas

Kansas legislators introduced a bill to exempt the state from daylight saving time in 2019, but it died in committee in 2020.

In 2021, lawmakers tried another route by introducing House Bill 2060, which would make daylight saving time permanent in the state. This bill died in May 2022.

These recent pieces of legislation were far from the only effort to end clock-changing, and the U.S. Senate has signed off on similar measure for the nation. But so far, Hawaii and Arizona are the only states in the country that don’t observe daylight saving time, and the Navajo Nation portion of Arizona does practice daylight saving .

The history of daylight saving

Daylight saving time was made a legal requirement by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports.

State governments cannot independently change time zones or the length of daylight saving time, the department reports, but they can exempt themselves from the practice.

“States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” the U.S. Department of Transportation website reads.

Next year’s daylight saving time will begin March 10, 2024.

How does daylight saving affect sleep?

While Kansas residents will gain an hour Nov. 5, the time change might not actually translate to more sleep.

“There is little evidence of extra sleep” on the fall night when daylight saving ends, according to a 2013 article from the Sleep Medicine Reviews journal, and you might actually be losing rest .

“The cumulative effect of five consecutive days of earlier rise times following the autumn change again suggests a net loss of sleep across the week,” the article’s abstract reads.

The end of daylight saving time has also been linked to other issues, such as increased collisions with deer , a 2022 article published by Current Biology reports.

While you might be less well-rested when the time changes this November, a March article from the Mayo Clinic Health System offers tips on how to reduce your sleep loss :

  • If you feel tired a few days after daylight saving time ends, take a 15-to 20-minute-long nap in the early afternoon.
  • Assess whether naps are helpful to you. Napping can hurt nighttime sleep for some people, while others may benefit from short naps.
  • Make an effort to be well-rested before the time changes.
  • As reported in Wichita Eagle.

Auction in rear-view mirror

By
Milo Yield
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Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield
Our big downsizing auction is now in our rear-view mirror. It was anything but big, money-wise, as far as auctions go, but it was big in the one respect that really mattered — we got rid of almost all our superfluous “stuff” that we didn’t need any more, had gotten the joy out of, and won’t have room for in our new home. So, we figger the auction a success in the big picture of our little universe.
Watching your possessions change hands during an auction is any interesting phenomenon. Country music singer Sammy Kershaw long ago recorded a song titled “Yard Sale” that has some lyrics that fit a downsizing auction, too. Here are a few of those excerpted lyrics: “
“Oh, they’re sortin’ through
What’s left of you and me.
Paying yard sale prices
For each golden memory.
Oh, I never thought
I’d ever live to see
The way they’re sorting through
What’s left of you and me.
…Well there goes the baby’s windup,
And the mirror from the hall.
I’d better take just one last look
Before they take it all.”
In my life, I’ve been to too many auctions looking for “buy bargains” to ever be critical of folks who did the same at our auction. But, as I watched folks tote off things I paid good money for long ago, it made me chuckle a bit to wonder what value I saw in the item when I bought it. All I can say is I hope they get as much use or enjoyment out of their newly acquired item as I did.
Judging from our auction, nobody really buys used furniture these days. I’m left to guess that folks put a premium on buying only new furniture. Which leads me to this observation: We won’t be insuring the contents of our new home for nearly as much as we have the contents of our current home insured for. In the future, it only makes sense to insure the six major appliances — refrigerator, deep freezer, stove, washer, clothes dryer, and dish washer — and a few thousand bucks for all the rest of the contents. If disaster strikes, you can replace all your other furniture at substantially less than new price.
Reflecting on it all, it’s rather refreshing to face the future with an updated slate of possessions. That said, just this morning at the Old Geezers’ Breakfast Club, I acquired my first extraneous new possession.  I got a brand new one-piece bread toaster — for free. It was a good way to start our new collection of “ new stuff.”
***
Before I quit the auction report completely. One item that didn’t sell is the fiberglass pickup truck bed cover. It fit the bed of my long-departed 1997 Ford F-150. I will give it to anyone who will come get it. Just give me a call at 620-344-1350 if you’re interested.
***
Our new home is gradually nearing completion. The builders are mostly working on the shelving, the lighting, the bathroom tiling, and installation of plumbing fixtures. It will nip and tuck to see if we still get to move the first week of October.
***
I regularly mention my wildlife encounters at Damphewmore Acres. Well, after the last one, I can assure that the world’s strongest raccoon recently showed up here. One evening, I discovered an old hen had gone to chicken heaven. It was too late in the day to bury her carcass in the compost pile, so I placed it under a 20 gallon stainless water tank that weighs at least 25 pounds. I figgered to compost her the next morning.
Alas, I had not figgered on King Kong Raccoon. The next morning I drove my UTV to the chicken house and, “Whoa,” I discovered the stainless steel tank had been slid at least 30 feet into the middle of the driveway. And, it was overturned and the hen carcass long gone. Only the dusty tracks of King Kong Raccoon told the tale. I wish I could have seen how it moved the heavy tank and how it overturned it for a chicken dinner. It would have been an interesting sight.
***
I’m always thinking about ways to make a quick buck easily. After watching TV for decades, I think I’ve hit upon a new money-making scheme. I want to be paid to come up with new names for new prescription medicines. Now, the pharmaceutical companies pay big bucks for expensive public relations companies to come up with the weirdest new medical names — like Zulaxid. Penctil, Ovyvara, Kydatid, Jalepto, Bedenyx, Peqavi, Kyrolen, Viagra, Cialis, Eliquis, Jevtana, Xgeva, and Ozempic, as examples.
Well, I can do job just as good and for a lot less money. I will build a “Medico-Dart Board” with lots of the letters Q, Z, J, X, and V. There will be fewer of the letters B, C, D, F, G, K, M, P, and W. The rest of the alphabet will have just a smattering of letters on my “Medico-Dart Board.”
When a pharmaceutical company needs a new medicine name, all it will have to do is tell me how many letters it wants in the name. Then, for a cool, but cheap, $10,000, I’ll go to my “Medico-Dart Board” and throw the proper number of darts. Voila, a new medicine will be named at a fraction of the current cost — which means the med can be sold to us much cheaper.
***
Two more good friends went to the Great Beyond this week. One friend and former co-worker died in Puyallup, Wash. The second was a current neighbor lady. Both were good folks who will be missed. RIP.
***
My words of wisdom for the week are from Christopher Parker: “Procrastination is like a credit card. It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”
Have a good ‘un.

Gary Sandbo

By
John Marshall
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john marshal

“Whenever I saw him, I lit up a bit because he was such a positive force in the universe,” Roger Verdon said.

News of Gary Sandbo’s death at age 77 came with crushing force. On Saturday morning, September 16, he had been at the funeral of a beloved friend. He delivered an eloquent tribute, returned to his seat and collapsed. In a moment he was dead.
Sandbo’s last words were about the beauty of someone else, the power of his friend’s love of teaching, of his selfless dedication and service. Sandbo had also been a teacher, a world-class coach, a passionate civic volunteer, a Christian who lived the Commandments so easily and modestly, as though they were born in him. His final act was to praise a friend.
For Gary Sandbo, giving was not second nature, it was ingrained. He believed in understanding and encouragement; his hand light on a shoulder softened the deepest trouble.
And that smile, its golden squint, eyes alight with mischief and affection, a grin loaded and ready to go off.
Like Roger, we lit up a bit whenever we saw Gary Sandbo. Our world is better because he lived in it. He was what good people dream to be.
*
Campus lessons
School has begun and small college campuses are a big part of small cities. Only weeks ago they stirred, busy in a snap, taking deep breaths and looking here and there as though they had just come out of a long nap. Curbs were lined and parking lots packed with cars and trucks, many from away.
Campuses carry special ambiance, landscapes of energy and color: the garden settings at Bethany, Bethel’s majestic limestone in North Newton, the venerable brick and stone at McPherson College and Wesleyan in Salina, all settled in the shade of old big trees.
They share a semester’s prelude: Vans and wagons tossed against the curb, doors open, piles of clothing and boxes of whatnot lying about, trains of people loaded to their chins, sliding in or out of doorways and along the halls like overweighed stewards after a long day on the trail.
Early days were for searching: for a place to park, for the lost power cord, the missing back pack, a better chair, a code to log in; or for negotiating: a place to park, a bigger closet, a later class, a reluctant window, an open window, a not-so-reluctant roommate; for local menus and carryout, for time to have a look around.
The grounds now are astir, people moving along the walks, among the gardens, past the statues and fountains and the stare of an administration building. Here is the thrum of opening weeks, prelude to autumn, its brisk dawns and freshly laundered air.
Summer, its oppression and heat, is stuffed to memory. The town, pants pressed and shirt tucked in, looks on. Youth has returned thin-clad and loose, carrying promise and energy and the grit and pluck of inspiration.
The campus rustles, liberated, stretching its arms. Students move over the grounds as though skating to music, and the campus seems to cohere – a thrilling thing to watch, bodies at last freed in their persistent attempt to catch up with the spirit.
A campus brings the revivifying energy of youth, of classes for the enrolled and lessons for us all.

Lettuce Eat Local: Refrigerator clean out time

By
Guest Columnist
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Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

Especially in cooking magazines but in other publications as well, sometimes people like to ask celebrities what’s in their fridge. Often the feature comes with a full- or half-page picture of an open refrigerator, providing a visual fridge-scape and glimpse into their dining habits.
While I suppose it’s an interesting idea — we all have fridges and can relate — I can’t believe their fridges haven’t been at least some curated for the project, and even if they haven’t, do I really need to know what brand of yogurt Beyonce prefers or what vegetables Alec Baldwin likes to have on hand?
Also, while my fridge basically is always full, perhaps precariously so, it rarely ever has the same things in it, besides the staples (milk, homemade ricotta, a bunch of random fresh produce, a thousand condiments for my two-year-old). A single glimpse won’t tell you much about our eating habits, except that we do eat and it’s almost always homemade. Oh and that I like storing things in jars, or at least glass pyrex — because we all know what happens to too many leftovers in non-see-through containers.
All that said, it might have been interesting for me to take Before and After photos of my refrigerator this week. We actually have two fridges; the one in the garage is for large items, overflow produce, and longterm storage, like apples from our tree, a gallon of refrigerator pickles, and the maple syrup refilling jar.
The difference between what our refrigerators looked like a week ago versus today is rather drastic. While it’s not unusual for me to do catering for events, once a month would be about the most often I typically have them scheduled. But last week I had two fairly large events (for me) in a span of three days, coming in right after and right before an influx of more cooking classes than usual. There was just plain a lot of food being planned for, and large quantities of food coming in and going out of our house.
Just in those two events, I fed about a hundred people, so you can see why our fridge space looks very different than it had recently. The garage fridge feels almost eerily empty, and while the kitchen fridge had been full yet simultaneously awkwardly empty of food available for my poor guys to eat, it’s now replenished with desultory leftover tidbits of this and that. If you want one egg salad wrap, 12 red grapes, pork ragu but nothing to eat it on, or a whole bunch of sandwich-size-trimmed romaine, you’re in business.
Like I said, maybe I should have taken Before and After photos. But while I absolutely love being able to cater and to connect with people through food in that way, those fridges were not a glimpse into our normal life. Thank goodness. This week was not a sustainable pace for our household, but Brian and Benson handled it like champs. It’s a true gift to do what I love in my own kitchen that I love on our own farm that I love, more often than not with the two-year-old I love — it’s gotten so bad I literally can’t peel an orange in the kitchen workspace before my son has clambered onto a stool and is sitting on the counter to see what I’m doing and how he can “help.” But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now here’s to hoping we have enough leftovers to last us a few days before I need to cook again.

Roasted Pork Ragu

For some reason, while I’d never made pork ragu before, I really wanted to serve it for the regenerative ag field school lunch I prepared. Thank goodness my intuition was correct, and paired with a cheesy baked polenta, this dish went over extremely well. The heartiness and warmth of this rich stew feels right at home for these incoming cooler days, and is a perfect transition between summer and fall meals. The pork gets fall-apart tender during the long oven cook, so don’t skimp on time there.
Prep tips: I made like an 8-10x batch of this…so know that you can multiply amounts as necessary. Source local/farm-raised pork if you can, and you won’t be disappointed at the quality of your final dish. I’ve slightly abridged this recipe, so if you want the full version or recipe for the cheesy polenta, just email me.

 

2 pounds pork shoulder/butt, in 2” chunks (if using bone-in, just add some extra poundage)
1-2 onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celerys, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed/minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 anchovies
1 cup red wine or chicken broth
1 [28 oz] can diced tomatoes
fresh parsley
Sprinkle salt and pepper on pork, and brown in oil on two sides. Transfer to a baking dish.
Cook onion in same skillet, adding oil if necessary; then add in carrots/celery/garlic until browned. Add to pork in pan along with all remaining ingredients but parsley. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350° for 2 ½ – 3 hours, or until pork is very tender. Pull out the pork and shred it — mine was tender enough that I just had to press it and it fell apart. Season and garnish with parsley; serve over polenta, rice, or past.

Lovina Prepares for Son Benjamin’s Surgery

By
tammiehoeme
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Lovina’s Amish Kitchen
Lovina Eitcher,
Old Order Amish
Cook, Wife &
Mother of Eight

 

It’s Monday night, and I want to get this column written tonight. Early tomorrow morning (5:15 a.m.) I will be leaving with son Benjamin to go to the hospital. He will have surgery done on his leg and screws put in for his fractured fibula and torn ligaments. He’s been having a lot of pain, so hopefully the surgery will help with that. His brand-new buggy will need repairs as well, but that can be fixed. He can be so fortunate that it wasn’t worse and his horse was okay. He appreciates all the well wishes, cards, etc. It’s unbelievable what the estimated cost of the surgery will be, but I guess everything is going up. It could have ended so much worse, so we want to thank God for having his hand over Benjamin.

On Sunday evening, most of our family were home for supper. Joe grilled twenty pounds of chicken and some wings. Along with that, we had mashed potatoes, gravy, coleslaw, cheese, and dill pickles. Dessert was Swiss roll bars, M & M bars, cookies, grape salad, and ice cream.  Sister Verena also joined for supper. 

Tonight, our supper was leftovers from last night. That was an easy supper. 

We did laundry today and canned 22 pints of Thick and Chunky Salsa. I would like to can tomato chunks yet this week. 

Wednesday I am invited to a birthday surprise for a neighbor lady. I am hoping I can go. Frieda will have a birthday next week. Her married daughter is planning the surprise. When we moved out here 19 1/2 years ago, Frieda and Abe showed up to help us unpack. We used to be in the same church, but after it got too big, we had to divide it. Sister Verena is also invited, so we will probably go together. That is, if Benjamin’s surgery goes okay. Frieda is five years younger than I am—she is sister Susan’s age. 

Tomorrow, daughter Susan and Ervin plan to bring supper in. It was their date to bring supper in—our bishop’s wife Janie passed out slips of paper with a date on it to bring supper in for daughter Loretta and Dustin and our family. That really helps out and is greatly appreciated. 

September 26 is daughter Lovina’s special friend Daniel’s 22nd birthday. We wish him a happy birthday and many more to come. Sunday night after communion services, our whole family will come here in honor of Daniel’s birthday.

Sister Verena stayed here for the night, then left this morning to go help niece Emma. They will host church services in 2 1/2 weeks, Lord willing.

Leaves are starting to fall and the calendar tells us autumn has officially begun.

I need to sign off and get ready for bed. Daughter Verena came tonight and will be here tomorrow while I am at the hospital.

Good night to all and God’s blessings to all of you.

Cheddar Chowder Soup

4 cups potatoes, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup onions, chopped

4 cups water

4 cups cheddar cheese

2 cups ham

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

White Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

4 cups milk

 

In a large pot, cook all vegetables in water until tender. Add cheese and ham along with salt and pepper. To make white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in flour to let it start cooking. Gradually add the milk and cook until thick. Stir into vegetables. Makes 16 one-cup servings.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her two cookbooks, The Essential Amish Cookbook and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

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