It’s that time of year again, time to “fall back”, time to reset your clocks and watches back one hour, time to give up a bit of daylight in the afternoon and gain a bit of daylight in the morning. It happens at 2 AM on Sunday, November 5th–like anyone stays up to 2 AM to make the switch.
It’s about more than just resetting the clocks–the time pieces in your home and your biological clock–it’s the official signal that shorter days are upon us and winter is approaching fast.
The country of Uganda spans the equator which means there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, no matter what time of year it is. So, while we are preparing to snuggle in and hibernate, the coffee workers on the Ugandan Gold Coffee farm operate by a different calendar. It’s one that is demarcated by rainy seasons, dry seasons, and harvest seasons with the harvest season now approaching quickly. While we are shivering here in Pittsburgh, slogging through ice and snow, the farm workers in Uganda are toiling under the equatorial sun, reaping the benefits of a year’s work of labor.
Here, most of us are separated from the cycles of sowing and reaping, and we lose our ties to the bountiful earth, finding our sustenance in packaged goods from brightly-lit stores or ordered on-line and delivered by trucks to our doorstep. it takes an effort to remember where your food and drink has originated.
While you are savoring your cup of Ugandan Gold Coffee before stepping out into the cold November day, think of the Ugandan farmer whose labor made that cup possible and be grateful. And, remember to turn your clocks back an hour!!
