As a child, afraid of the dark, or more exactly afraid of what I sensed and imagined in the dark, I used to love staying with my grandparents in rural Yorkshire, until bedtime. Traffic continued nearly all night, a comforting assurance that there were people still out there, minding the place. As I grew older, I knew I was supposed to be afraid of being out at night. Darkness sheltered me as much as it sheltered them, hid me from aggressors as well as aggressors from me. Each to their own: give me street lights and passersby and the bustle of my kind of morning, noon and night.

Source: The Irish Times November 17, 2025 06:04 UTC