Daylight savings time, that jarring seasonal conceptual practice, ended last weekend, which means that at 6:30 last evening I was harvesting lettuce and arugula by flashlight after work. With the help of the porch light, I also saw that the garlic, which we’re overwintering in a southeastern front yard bed, has sprouted green growth as a result of a stretch of warm, moist days following the brief October frost. Looking closely at the soil in the beds, I was for some reason buoyed by the tiny bugs that I saw crawling on the mulch, energized in knowing that the entire lifecycle of several organisms is playing out quietly across eight raised beds under streetlights after we’ve had our dinner and washed the dishes and retired early now that the night has grown longer than the day.