This Sunday marks the end of Daylight Saving Time, so when the last call bell rings at 2 a.m., set your watch back an hour and buy everyone another round. Any excuse for an extra hour of partying is fine with us, so let’s toast to Ben Franklin, but do it ironically, since he may have come up with the idea just so people would go to bed earlier.

We hoped you saved all that extra sunlight in a jar somewhere, along with the conserved energy and crime-free weekends that daylight saving is supposed to produce, because it’s back to the dark days for awhile. But fret not, my fellow Americans, because next year we get two one full extra months of sunny evenings, due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Starting in 2007, daylight saving begins in March and ends in November, allowing us to put on some sweaters, sit outside in the sun and pretend it’s actually warm.

Photo by Flickr user MatthewBradley.