There’s a tune by singer/songwriter Darrell Scott called “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” (1997). It’s about a town in coal country, Kentucky, “where the sun comes up about ten in the morning, and the sun goes down about three in the day”, due to Harlan’s location deep in a hollow between two Appalachian mountain ridges. Scott’s song has been covered by better known acts including Montgomery Gentry, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, Brad Paisley, and others. The track was included in some episodes of the television series Justified (2010 – 2015). From Harlan, we now awkwardly segue to the real topic of this edition of The Night Owl.
Artistic license may have been taken with the time of sunrise and sunset in Harlan – I don’t know as it’s the one place in all the world I’ve never been (j/k) – however, there are two villages in Europe that truly never get direct sunlight during the winter months. Both are nestled deep in their respective valleys, where mountains block the winter sun, preventing sunlight from reaching the villagers.
Viganella, in far north Italy near the Swiss border, gets zero direct sunlight for nearly three months of the year. So in 2006, the town spent €100,000 to install an 8 meter × 5 meter mirror on a steep mountain slope 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) above the village. The mirror is computer controlled to track the sun as it moves across the sky. Electric motors move the giant mirror precisely to reflect the sun’s light into the piazza down below.
Sunlight deprivation is even worse in Rjukan, Norway, which until 2013 sat in the shadows for the whole of six months every year. Remarkably, someone in 1913 Rjukan dreamed up the idea of using a mirror to reflect sunlight down into the town. A century later, 2013 Rjukan finally began to enjoy the fruits of that plan.
For those subject to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), living in Viganella and Rjukan during the winter months was unbearable prior to the installation of the reflecting mirrors. Enjoying sunlit winters in their hometowns is a real luxury that beats depression. The mirrors are justified.
“Winter light in Italian village | Focus on Europe” (5:15):
“Norwegians use giant mirrors to reflect sunlight into town square” (1:18):
BONUS VIDEO “Darrell Scott – You’ll never leave Harlan alive (Justified)” (5:10):
Question Of The Night: Are you looking forward to electric cars and trucks replacing internal combustion engines and fossil fuels, or do you dread it?
