Daylight saving time may help cheer the weary

When Bill Hadden sets up his Center City food truck about 6:30 a.m. Friday, the sun will be just starting to rise.

When he sets up at the same time Monday, it will be pitch black. All because daylight saving time - that change in our clocks that creates an extra hour of sunlight in the evening - begins at 2 a.m. Sunday.

The shifting will not bring an immediate halt to a wicked winter that has walloped the region with snow, ice, and bitter cold, but it does signal the beginning of brighter days.

And many will welcome the change and be made more cheery by it, even if the actual length of the day will remain exactly the same: 24 hours, with about 11 1/2 hours of sunlight.

"In general, people do seem to have better moods in the spring and summer months, and that's largely because there's more light in the day," said Karl Doghramji, a Thomas Jefferson University physician who specializes in sleep medicine.

And if that doesn't work, consider this: AccuWeather Inc. says the coldest weather of the season is likely behind much of the mid-Atlantic until next winter.

Not everyone is cheering, however. Hadden, 44, said daylight saving time will make his mornings "feel a lot longer."

It will be tougher for him to make his way around his truck, which has only a small window to let light in, the Fishtown resident said. He's trying not to think about it much. "Either way, I'll be here Monday," he said.

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