Changing the clocks

Today the clocks moved back. I'm so glad that the whole EU now does this at the end of October. When we first moved to France in 1991 winter time began at the end of September and I found it really depressing to begin winter time so early in the autumn.
By going to the National Maritime Museum's website I discovered that summer time in Britain began during the first world war as a result of Germany bringing in daylight saving time. changing the clocks seems to provoke quite some controvery. In Denmark there's an association that campaigns against summer time. A few years ago the then French primeminister Alain Juppé floated the idea of staying with central european time throughout the year, meaning that France would only be one hour ahead of solar time - in fact France only moved away from Greenwich meantime during the Second World War following the German occupation. I'm glad this didn't go through as we'd have become time travellers every time we crossed the border into Switzerland, 500 metres away and an hour ahead of us. I dare say that you can get used to working in two time zones but early mornings might be more of a struggle.
Meanwhile today I feel refreshed after an extra hour's sleep and shall ponder verses from Ecclesiastes as I wander around in the autumn leaves and sunshine, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun." Time is precious.