The tiny Italian town of Viganella is adorable and quaint, but it has one major downside. All winter long, it receives no sunlight.
A recent article from Gizmowatch explains:
Viganella is a small town in Italy whose inhabitants dread arrival of the winter season. The reason being that each year for 84 days in a row, the sun would not shine in the town as it went behind the 1,600-Meter high mountain that covered the town. The 197 inhabitants were plunged into a near darkness and just waited for the 84 days to pass so that they can once again feel the heat of the sun. With the sun not shining in the town the inhabitants lived a depressed life a scenario which docs call the ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ or SAD.
So what is the solution? Build a giant mirror.
The city fathers raised money and ordered construction of a large panel that could be pointed at the sun and the town. A diagram (in Italian) shows how it works:
Failure is the secret to success. A small town needed to experience generations of darkness before it finally decided to make use of simple technology to change their fate.
Sometimes we too just need to build a mirror in the mountains to shine a light on our own darkness. Let the people of Viganella brighten your path!