My alarm clock radio was playing “If You Could Read my Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot on the first Monday of daylight savings in 1970. It was April 27, spring in Wyoming. It was eerily dark and quiet, except for the wind, at 5:30, (really 4:30). My English class on Utopias began at 7:00 so I was the first and only one up in my family.

My morning beauty routine consisted of taking out the ten, large orange juice cans that were pinned on my head, brushing my teeth, washing my face, moisturizing, and swiping the mascara wand across my lashes. I parted my hair down the middle and pulled it into a tight pony tail. My outfit had been carefully chosen the night before. The dress code in Casper schools had been amended while I was in junior high, permitting girls to wear pants, jeans even, but I chose my “baby doll” style mini dress with “hot pants” and brightly colored tights. My shiny, chunky heeled boots completed the ensemble.

Leaving the house at 6:30, I felt the full, literal force of the proverb; “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” Without the moon, it was pitch black and freezing as I headed out on my six block walk to school. Thankful for the street lights and porch lights, I tiptoed around patches of newly drifted snow. My boots were made for show, not the work of walking on icy sidewalks. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the lights of my school, this first walk of Daylight Savings was the scariest and most treacherous ever.

“Rainy Days and Mondays,” by Gordon Lightfoot was playing on Pandora when I awoke at 5:15 (really 4:15) on Monday, March 10, 2025. I hadn’t slept a wink, I was anxious about missing my alarm. My husband and dogs were peacefully sleeping, our normal wake up time was an hour away. My chickens were out of sorts, their schedule had been working for six months. It had been light enough in the morning for several weeks to actually see my chickens without a flashlight. On the first Monday (and every day that week) of daylight savings, it was really tricky walking to the back of my garden to feed the girls, I didn’t see them because they were sound asleep.

In a letter to the editor of the Journal de Paris, Benjamin Franklin jokingly proposed that Parisians could save money on candles and oil by waking up earlier in the morning and making use of natural daylight. Daylight savings was fully adopted during World War l to conserve fuel. By setting the clocks forward in spring and back in fall, people can take advantage of longer evening daylight, reducing the need for artificial lighting and saving energy.

The effectiveness of daylight saving has been debated for decades. Modern studies show that energy savings are minimal. Research shows that the change in daily routines may lead to higher energy consumption overall. Additionally, daylight savings time has been linked to negative health effects, such as sleep disruption and increased risk of heart attacks and accidents immediately after the time change. Though it may provide more daylight for evening activities, the overall benefits remain mixed and controversial.

Daylight Savings interrupts our natural circadian rhythm. Sleep deprivation due to losing that hour in spring, leads to difficulty concentrating. Studies also show that morning light exposure decreases the risk of seasonal affective disorder. Lack of sunlight in the morning can lower serotonin and dopamine, affecting mood and mental health.

Daylight savings wreaked havoc with my health this past week by disrupting my sleep and leaving me tired and off-balance for days.

For those concerned about fourteen year old me walking to school alone in the dark, my memory of being scared was only about falling – not being attacked or kidnapped. The only real threat in being out at night or that early in the morning was freezing to death. I don’t remember many of the walks afterward, probably because my parents started driving me to school until the sun rose before six thirty.

In 1970, my Dad, still City Attorney for Casper, Wyoming, had formed a new law firm with a law school friend and fellow veteran, John Dobos. The third partner to join the firm was former prosecuting attorney for Fremont County, Wyoming, Gerry Spence. Gerry Spence became known for winning some very high profile cases. He would later win the Karen Silkwood case, he was a consultant on the OJ Simpson case, and he represented Imelda Marcos in a fraud case.

The first couple of months in his office was uneventful, Dad really enjoyed the camaraderie of having these men as partners. The second month settled in and the cracks in the relationship with Gerry Spence started to appear. On the surface, Gerry seemed like a typical Wyoming native; ruggedly independent, a strong work ethic, love for the outdoors, and deep rooted values. Dad originally approached Gerry about joining his law firm because Dad thought that he and Gerry were like-minded, keeping personal issues “close to the vest.”Gerry seemed to value honesty and handshake deals. Gerry also had a strong sense of patriotism and state pride, all of which were important in my Dad’s estimation.

After the second month, it seemed obvious that Gerry was “a different breed of cat” than my Dad and John Dobos. One Saturday morning my brother and I went with Dad to deliver a brief to Gerry’s house. We were waiting in the car as Dad knocked on the front door. Gerry greeted my Dad wearing nothing but his “birthday suit.” Using his parka, Dad awkwardly attempted to block our view of Gerry. After handing over the document, Dad practically ran back to the car as Gerry stood at the full length, glass door waving. That encounter made for some great cocktail party stories later on.

Gerry eventually made some changes in the weekly partners’ meetings after attending a structured, facilitator led, weekend on “sensitivity training.” He felt that it was important to raise awareness and foster understanding of different perspectives amongst the partners. His goal was to encourage respectful dialogue and promote empathy in order to best serve their clients.

The first meeting began with the three men and their secretaries holding hands, breathing deeply. Next the group moved into a one minute mantra, still breathing. The meeting then progressed normally, until the end when Gerry would give everyone “homework.” The “homework”consisted of a leading personal question to be answered and shared at the next meeting.

My Dad was a member of the generation that espoused keeping your private life to yourself and meeting obstacles head on, so bearing his soul to his colleagues was an uncomfortable ask. Dad was kind, generous, and humble so he acquiesced. After reading my Dad’s diary from his horrific, daily experiences in the Pacific during WW2, I suspect that my Dad suffered from PTSD. I believe that his work as the Chancellor of the Episcopal Church of Wyoming and as a Pro Bono lawyer for the Shoshone Tribe were subconsciously a big part of his mental health regimen. My Dad discovered that lengthy conversations with my Psychiatrist uncle, also a WW2 veteran and “helping others,” were the best coping strategies for him.

For a couple of months, Gerry and his “sensitivity sessions” were the primary topic during my parents’ nightly pre-dinner cocktail hour. Eventually things settled down at the office as my Dad finally saw the value in the “sensitivity sessions,” personally.

Fifty years later, I am in the second year of a monthly “sensitivity” class regarding equity. The class can be challenging at times but it is of the utmost importance now more than ever. As Proverbs 2:9 states: “then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.” Equity in the Bible means having compassion for one another. True equity requires more than just acknowledging differences – it demands action, understanding, and a commitment to creating spaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Equity isn’t a destination – it’s an ongoing process that challenges us to see, hear, and uplift every voice.

Kate Emery General is a retired chef/restaurant owner who was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming. Kate loves her grandchildren, knitting, and watercolor painting. Kate and her husband, Matt are longtime residents of Cambridge’s West End where they enjoy swimming and bicycling. 

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” has always been one of my favorite books so I was very excited to read, Percival Everett’s book; “James.” Everett brilliantly reimagines “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man. Jim is described as an intelligent and literate man who strategically adopts “incorrect grammar” to navigate his perilous life, mainly when speaking to white people.

I first read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” at age twelve in eighth grade. Both of my parents were fans of Mark Twain’s books so the nightly dinner table discussion was centered around passages in the book, mainly the written vernacular and themes of race and morals. I learned the meaning of irony while reading “Huckleberry Finn,” Jim is the most civilized character in the book and he is a slave. The free men in the story mistreat Jim over and over again, all for personal gain. Ironically, it also turns out that the entire time that Jim is a “runaway,” he’s actually been a free man, his owner having given Jim his freedom upon her death.

The same year my English class read “Huckleberry Finn,” we studied the film “Porgy and Bess” in music class. “Porgy and Bess” is considered controversial because, despite being a story about African American life, it was written by white people who have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes of Black people through its characters and dialect. “Huckleberry Finn” written by Mark Twain, a white man, is accepted by critics as characteristic of the time in America, but those critics also believe that his racially charged language contributes to negative stereotypes.

The dialect of the characters in the movie, “Porgy and Bess,” and the book, “Huckleberry Finn,” was a big part of the lesson in both English and music classes. My naive thirteen year old self wrote a report stating that the characters in the movie should have southern accents because it reflects the way that people actually spoke, and I didn’t see them as exaggerated and offensive. To support my theory, I used my family members who lived in Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana as an example. If everyone spoke in perfect English, it wouldn’t accurately reflect the time period or setting. I believed that the way people spoke was an important part of their identity. I knew that in certain regions in America, people spoke with a heavy southern “drawl.” My parents had read “Br’er Rabbit” to me as a very young child, another example of characters in a book with Southern accents.

“Porgy and Bess” was a collaboration between George Gershwin and author Dubose Heyward, a successful writer from an old South Carolina family. Gershwin insisted that all performances be by all black casts. While the play opened up valuable opportunities for black artists, it was criticized by some as an inappropriate depiction of black culture.

I know that my life has benefited from my public school education, my teachers were “ahead of their time” in that they didn’t hesitate to teach and discuss controversial subjects. I found in my reading of “Huckleberry Finn,” that despite being a slave, Jim is the only character in the book who is portrayed with significant dignity. Jim’s character is moral, good-hearted, and intelligent, which the novel; “James”proves.

Percival Everett felt that it was crucial to change the way Jim speaks in “James,” to challenge the stereotypical portrayal of enslaved people in literature. Everett suggests that enslaved people would often use coded language to communicate amongst themselves while appearing to conform to their oppressors’ expectations when speaking in front of them. By giving Jim a more articulate and sophisticated way of speaking, Purcival Everett directly confronts the racist metaphor of “the ignorant slave.” By allowing Jim to express himself fully, he becomes a complex, intelligent individual, not just a stereotypical character.

Purcival Everett’s, “James” is both a tribute and a critique, he reshapes a beloved classic to reveal deeper truths about race, storytelling, and the enduring struggle for dignity. “James” challenges the myths of American literature by giving voice to an enslaved man, Jim, offering a powerful meditation on race and freedom.