A MIRROR FOR A DARK VALLEY
Every year, from the middle of November until the beginning of February, the sun does not shine on the village of Valmora. The village lies at the bottom of a deep, narrow valley, and the high mountains around it block the low winter sun. For almost three months, the people who live there spend their days in shadow. This winter, however, the main square of Valmora will be full of sunlight.(lines 1–5)
Marta Keller, the mayor of Valmora, says that the dark months are hard for the village. "In winter, people stay at home and the streets are empty," she explains. "Many older people feel lonely, and the cafés lose their customers." Last year, the village council decided to put a huge mirror on the mountain above the village. Its job is to send sunlight down onto the square. The idea is not new. It came from Italy, where a small mountain village put up a similar mirror in 2006. According to Keller, the mirror has two big advantages: it costs almost nothing to run, and it can be taken down in a single day if people do not like it.(lines 6–12)
The mirror is made of sixty pieces of polished steel, and together they are as large as a tennis court. Because the sun moves across the sky, a mirror that stood still would light the square for only a few minutes. So a small computer turns the mirror slowly all day, and it follows the sun from east to west. A solar panel next to the mirror produces the power for the computer. On cloudy days, when there is no sun to follow, the mirror simply rests.(lines 13–17)
Before the mirror was switched on last week, the council sent a letter to every home in the village. It asked people to leave their houses and spend time in the square during the sunny hours. It also asked parents to bring their children there to play after school. The council wants the square to be busy again, because it believes that lonely people will feel better when they meet their neighbors in the sun.(lines 18–22)