The horrors that await us when we dare to mess with Mother Nature

Remember to spring forward tonight - or is it fall backward?

Every year, it seems, we do this song and dance about moving the clocks forward or backward to accommodate this time-altering concept known as Daylight Saving Time.

And no, it is not Daylight "Savings" Time, as 98.4 percent of Americans think it is called.

I've written about this issue in a timely manner over the years during my brief employment at The Davis Enterprise, a tenure that was interrupted by an untimely phone call telling me my time was up.

Still, you can learn a lot of things by reading the newspaper, which is why I read as many as I can find, including dailies from New York, Seattle, Portland, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Despite all that reading, the other day I learned something I previously had not known, and frankly, it shocked me.

This from a major newspaper with all sorts of editors and proofreaders and fact-checkers who are there to make sure that what you read is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

The story has been repeated so many times that it has pretty much been accepted as fact, appearing as it has in a number of publications across the country.

It is a story about following the law and moving our clocks forward - or is it backward? - tonight before we go to bed.

The story reduced Daylight Saving Time into a question-and-answer format, beginning with “Why does Daylight Saving Time exist?”

If you promise you’re sitting comfortably in your favorite Barcalounger with a strong adult beverage in hand, I’ll proceed.