The dark time

Darker than usual this year, as the tramworks have put out of action some of the city centre streetlights. On Saturday afternoon the streets leading off Princes Street were unlit chasms. Dark in the countryside enfolds, but dark in a city, among the press of shadowy crowds, is unsettling. The streets that were lit reminded me of the opening of Ursula Le Guin's 'The Left Hand of Darkness'. "Rainclouds over dark towers, rain falling in deep streets, a dark storm-beaten city of stone, through which one vein of gold winds slowly."
But Edinburgh's 'Winter Wonderland' is taking shape again (already?). Behind the spire of the Scott Monument the big wheel experiments with a red zig zag of lights.
In answer to Tami's question, we have about 7 hours 40 minutes of daylight this week, but with low cloud it feels MUCH less!