def METHOD_NAME(self, var_min_year: int, var_max_year: int):
    """Check if time slide is anchored at the earliest year."""
    use_min_year = (
        self.config["minTime"] == "earliest"
        or self.config["maxTime"] == "earliest"
        or (
            pd.api.types.is_numeric_dtype(self.config["minTime"])  # type: ignore
            and pd.api.types.is_numeric_dtype(self.config["maxTime"])  # type: ignore
            and abs(self.config["minTime"] - var_min_year) < abs(self.config["maxTime"] - var_max_year)
        )
    )
    return use_min_year