11.2.2026 – on Chicago time

on Chicago time
I have always done better
on Chicago time

It was the time change this weekend that got me thinking.

I woke up at my usual time this morning but realized had another hour before I had to get out of bed.

I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But in the summer time, we moved to Grand Haven as my Dad bought a place cottage right on the shore of Lake Michigan.

It was about as far west as you could go in the Eastern Time Zone and still be on Eastern Time.

Life at the cottage slowed way down.

When we first moved out there, we still had a party line and not only had to listen for the phone to ring but had to listen to the type of rings, I think ours was 2 long rings and 2 short rings.

It was such a bother that that may have been where my families universal avoidance of dealing with telephones started.

We had TV of course.

If my Dad was along, TV would be involved.

And right on the shore, we could pick stations from Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay as well as the stations in Grand Rapids.

Being right on the shore, we also had the last minutes of sun light in the Eastern Time zone.

Evening twilight lasted forever.

And the sunsets were the things that poets tried to poet about.

Just down from our cottage as a big dune that we called the big dune (I told life was slower).

We learned that we could stand on the shore and watch the sun go down and climb quickly to the top of the big dune and see it disappear again.

It felt like we had a handle on the Earth and we could lever it back an inch.

Meal times moved back.

Nights were later.

Mornings started later.

It wasn’t until the sun was over the cottage that it hit the beach and the day really warmed up.

At some point my Dad pointed out that we lived on Chicago time.

An hour behind everyone else back in Grand Rapids.

Thinking back, I always seemed to do better on Chicago time.

Now I live a mile from the eastern most point of the Eastern Time zone.

I don’t have sunsets.

I have sunrises.

I think I am more of a sunset guy to tell you the truth.

I think I did better on Chicago time.

I think I still do.