ALONG THE WAY

In Arizona, the Answer to 'What time is it?' May Depend on What Aunt Belva Has in the Oven

Summer in Arizona can mean rattlesnakes, horrendous heat, and bad dispositions, but these are nothing compared to the Time Problem.

You see, it all started back in 1966 when the rest of the continental United States decided to go on something called "daylight-saving time." To Arizonans this was unthinkable. When the temperature outside is pushing 120° F., why on earth would you want any more daylight time? Without a moment's pause, they said "No Way" and became the only state NOT on daylight-saving time.

Most people thought this wouldn't cause any problems because Arizona Time would be the same time as it had always been but the first trouble appeared on the TV. When a program was advertised at 8 P.M. Central Standard Time, how did that convert to Arizona Time? Let's see, from April to October, Arizona is on Pacific Time, which is two hours later than Central Time, but from October to April, Arizona goes by Mountain Standard Time, which is only one hour earlier than Central, I think. Well, you get the idea. Thank heaven, remote controls came along, and we could surf the channels without having to resort to advanced mathematics.

All this Not Changing really changed the Navajo Indian Reservation. Part of the reservation is in New Mexico, which, unfortunately, followed the rest of the nation on daylight-saving time, leaving the Navajos with two time zones in the summer and one time zone in the winter. The tribe decided to go on New Mexico Time, which solved their problem but gave Arizona a headache because now the northeastern corner of the state was a different time than the other three-fourths of Arizona.

headache because now the northeastern corner of the state was a different time than the other three-fourths of Arizona.

To make matters worse, the Hopi reservation is smack in the middle of the Navajo reservation, and they opted for Arizona Time. So-o-o, if you are traveling northwest from Holbrook to Tuba City in the summer, you start out in Pacific, go into Mountain, back into Pacific, back into Mountain, and so forth, leaving you with no idea what time it is.

The local residents go by Reservation Time, which encompasses any and all time zones and means roughly translated "whenever." They function fine, but tourists can't seem to figure all this out.

I was standing in the Glen Canyon Dam visitors center one recent morning when a Texan in our tour group asked me the time. I politely respondeded, "Which time are you talk-ing about?"

"The dam time," he answered abruptly.

I wasn't really trying to be difficult. I needed to know. "Which Dam Time do you want?"

His face got red and his voice sharp. "This dam time, of course. What else could I mean?" he fumed.

"Well, it does make a difference, you know," I said. "On the Arizona side, the Dam Time is 10:43, but on the Utah side it's 11:43, but that's in the summer only. If this were winter, it would be 10:43 on both sides of the river. But if you were standing on Hoover Dam on this same Colorado River, it would be 10:43 across the whole dam except in the winter, it would be 10:43 on the eastern end and only 9:43 on the western end."

Texas just looked at me. Then comprehension lit up his eyes. "That's why you guys have those two big clocks standing on Hoover Dam," he said.

"That's right," I said, "but you've got to know if you're coming or going, and after a couple of days in Las Vegas, it's hard to tell."

Texas wasn't sure if he really wanted to know, but he asked anyway. "Do you have any other weird times in Arizona?"

"Well," I said taking a big breath, "there's Construction Time which means you always get stopped at the road blocks, and Government Time which means they are either not open yet or already closed. Then there's Off Season which is summer in Phoenix and winter in Show Low, and On Season which is winter in Tucson and summer in Flagstaff."

"Anything else I should know?" Texas sputtered.

"Well, there is Family Time," I said hesitantly.

"You've got to be kidding," Texas answered.

"No, I just got my family reunion invitation. It said lunch would be at 12 o'clock, Webb Standard Time. That means we'll eat whenever Aunt Belva gets the vinegar doughnuts done."

"How do you ever function here?" Texas wanted to know.

"Oh, it's like the heat. You get used to it," I replied breezily.

Texas just shook his head.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I think I'll go back home where we just change the clock twice a year, and leave you guys to your own Dam Time."