The Silver Lining

It's the time when Postwar Dad put his feet up, lit a pipe, and read the paper. Called "evening" in TV guides, the gray area from 5 to 6:30 p.m. or so is used less distinctly now, with men and women often still at work or at least in commute and a date with a hearty dinner less likely than some take-out food reheated in the microwave.

However rattled instead of relaxed, evening is still a transition time, when the detritus of the day - homework, housework, paperwork, dealing with grumpy clients - is cleared for the tide that narrows into bedtime.

We give up that gray time Sunday, when daylight saving time ends. Cabin fever looms. Waving a white flag at 5:30's black attack, we'll get a little too cozy with our housekeeping, our pets, maybe even our families. No more neighbors now, just twinkling TV hearthfires dotting the block.

But daylight does go elsewhere. Look for it in the morning at around 6 - a good time to steal a walk, read the newspaper, peek at the weather forecast, and have a microsecond of reflection or an unharried word with a spouse or a child. These are enough reasons for good cheer.

And, spring will come, as surely as the sunrise.