Night Light

Today

I've just returned from a weekend in Barcelona. Our city-centre hotel bedroom had a complicated set of window coverings. On the outside, traditional slatted wooden shutters. Then sliding glass doors onto the tiny balcony. Next, another sliding glass door which was mirrored on the inside. Finally some gauze curtains which appeared to have little function, even decorative.

There were three effects of this arrangement, all based on exclusion: air, sound and light. The inner door meant that you had no idea what time of day or night it was. Waking up, I had no natural clues as to what time it could possibly be. I must say, I found this disconcerting.

In My Day

Being brought up in London meant the continual presence of street lights at night time. The lights of London cast an orange glow, so much so that I was sometimes surprised when visiting other cities to see white or even greenish lights.

Our bedrooms had curtains, of course, but they did a sketchy job of excluding these lights. Add to that the fact that our rooms were in the basement so we were looking up and you have a lurid effect. (Actually, thinking about this, I realise that the boys, whose bedrooms overlooked the garden, probably had a quite different experience.)

Even now, I'm not sure of the extent to which I found the lights frightening or reassuring, the latter on balance, I guess as total darkness would have been completely impossible to deal with. On dark stormy nights the trees in the front garden would wave about menacingly; their monstrous shapes exaggerated by the hellish orange lights.  Primed for terror by too much reading of fairy stories and seeing "Snow-White", I wondered if those huge waving arms could grab and crush me. Did they conceal giants or wicked witches? Maybe tigers or lions.

The nights could seem interminable; but at least the daylight would eventually squeeze out the night horrors and I could watch for the sun or grey dawn, knowing that I had a reprieve. I don't think I talked much about this, being only too happy that it was daytime; certainly there was no suggestion of nightlights or leaving lights on.

I must say, since the Council replaced our streetlight, which has so far failed to come on, that Paul and I have found our nights somewhat improved!