Copyright Reading Eagle
For information on submitting an obituary, please contact Reading Eagle by phone at 610-371-5018, or email at obituaries@readingeagle.com or fax at 610-371-5193. Most obituaries published in the Reading Eagle are submitted through funeral homes and cremation services, but we will accept submissions from families. Obituaries can be emailed to obituaries@readingeagle.com. In addition to the text of the obituary, any photographs that you wish to include can be attached to this email. Please put the text of the obituary in a Word document, a Google document or in the body of the email. The Reading Eagle also requires a way to verify the death, so please include either the phone number of the funeral home or cremation service that is in charge of the deceased's care or a photo of his/her death certificate. We also request that your full name, phone number and address are all included in this email. All payments by families must be made with a credit card. We will send a proof of the completed obituary before we require payment. The obituary cannot run, however, until we receive payment in full. Obituaries can be submitted for any future date, but they must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. the day prior to its running for it to be published. Please call the obituary desk, at 610-371-5018, for information on pricing. We’re all stuck back in standard time and I’m despondent. The fingernails of deep depression have inserted themselves into my ears and stirred. Yep, there definitely is a dark side to standard time. I loathe losing that extra hour of daylight in the evening. It’s almost as bad as losing an arm. I equate dark with damnation and light with salvation. There’s a reason legendary football coach Vince Lombardi instructed his Green Bay Packers to run to daylight. I’ve long envisioned the Grim Reaper lurking in the darkness. I’ve never seen him hanging out at the beach on a sunny day. Unless, of course, he was masquerading as a shark. Granted, we do gain more light in the morning but since I sleep in that does absolutely nothing for me. Actually it does awaken me a tad early when shafts of sunlight peep through the blinds, guaranteeing that I’m a lion instead of a lamb at breakfast. Getting thrust into the heart of darkness before 5 p.m. is more irritating than wearing an itchy wool sweater with no shirt underneath it. Try raking leaves in the dark. I’m now risking my pricey dental work by holding a flashlight in my teeth while I rake after work. It’s no joyride down the yellow brickyard either to clean gutters, winterize your perennials and put up your Christmas lights when it’s pitch dark. It’s so easy to mix those chores up. Trust me, I’ve done it. And did you ever try replacing roof shingles in the dark? Talk about flirting with danger and risking a two-story fall. Thank God I wear a parachute. But whether there’s enough time for the chute to open after I pull the ripcord is an open question. And forget about sneaking in a few holes of golf after work this time of year. I shoot enough bogeys in daylight. In darkness I’d never find the hole but probably would find The Bogeyman. I could always put some portable light towers in my golf bag. But then I’d need a crane to lift it. And golf courses frown at heavy machinery digging up their fairways and greens. I hate changing clocks twice a year, especially when we return to standard time and you have to set the clock backward 11 hours. I’ll concede we gain an hour of sleep for one night with the switch, but it still sets my mood backward every autumn. Indeed, we are forced to become time travelers twice a year, which transforms our circadian rhythm into tapioca pudding. No wonder I’m such a lousy dancer. All states except Arizona and Hawaii make the time shifts; those two states remain on standard time year-round. I guess their residents can dance the tango in top hat and tails because their circadian rhythm is never disrupted. New research from Stanford University found that when it comes to our internal clocks having a single time year-round is better for our health. It also found that standard time has slightly better health benefits than daylight saving time. I’m a brave guy. I’ll gladly risk the lesser health benefits for an extra hour of daylight in the evening and the added sunlight exposure, which is essential for vitamin D production that plays a crucial role in bone health, immune function, mood enhancement, overall well-being and justifying the cost of my $400 prescription sunglasses. Mike Zielinski, a resident of Berks County, is a columnist, novelist, playwright and screenwriter.
