The calendar has done one of it’s mischeivous orbital tricks with this change of season and we need to be prepared. Here is what’s coming, so get ready! Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31, with swarms of costumed citizens preparing for an election early next week. The costumes may come off in time for a “Fall Back” early Sunday morning.

After the costumes and candy, we get to repeat an hour to get really ready for the election on Tuesday. It is a lot to handle. Kayaking out on the main street might help if your waters are up.

At 2 a.m. on November 1, the clocks retreat to 1 a.m., returning Virginia to Eastern Standard Time, EST.

Set the kitchen clock back before bed. The phone will probably take care of itself. The microwave will require adult supervision.

Why do we do this? Daylight Saving Time shifts an hour of daylight into the evening during the warmer months. Turning the clocks back puts that daylight on the morning side of the ledger. We haven’t gained or lost any sunshine, though the Conference Table may demand an investigation when darkness arrives before somebody has decided what’s for dinner.

Meanwhile, the Moon has its own schedule, and nobody has asked it to reset anything.

October’s full moon arrived on the 26th, followed by lunar perigee—the Moon’s closest approach to Earth—on the 28th.

(Kayaking on the streets of St. Augustine, Screenshot from Florida Times-Union video).

That combination helps produce unusually high tides, popularly called “King Tides.” Virginia’s tidal flooding calendar marks October 25–31 as a king-tide period, carrying the waterfront’s part of the celebration right into Halloween.

There is something seasonally appropriate about a bright Moon, rising water and pumpkins grinning in the dark. The atmosphere practically writes its own ghost story.

Still, turning back the clocks adds no water. The tides continue on their astronomical schedule; we simply change the hour printed beside them.

Anyone consulting a tide table should check whether it uses standard time or adjusts for Daylight Saving Time. The Moon is reliable about its appointments. Our paperwork needs checking.

Nor does a king-tide designation guarantee flooded streets. Wind, weather and local conditions help determine how high the water actually gets. The calendar tells us when the astronomical ingredients are in place.

So we have pumpkins on Saturday, clocks back early Sunday, and unusually high tides along parts of Virginia’s waterfront as Halloween approaches. And an election on Tuesday when some of the hysteria will transition to other shrieking events. A busy few days for the calendar, with an extra hour tucked into the middle.

At the Trillium, we can concentrate on the candy and the Galley.

There may even be time for another cup of Black Rifle Coffee with a couple of Deirdre’s crispy fritters while we debate whether the extra hour should be spent sleeping or enjoying the fact that we are awake.

The Moon can handle the waterfront. Somebody still has to reset the microwave.

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com