A tower block in East London, the eleventh floor. Sunset, late March, 2009.
A conscientious experiment: one hour without light, stereo, television or computers. Smartphones weren't ubiquitous yet. We lay in our dim bedroom, listening to a hand crank powered radio, a gift from his father. Suzi Quatro on BBC Radio 2, interviewing one of Blondie’s members in between classic rock.
Beyond the pigeon-repelling net, the city remained lit. No.8 buses moved down Roman Road. Only one skyscraper in Canary Wharf was dark; red lights flashed warnings to aircrafts from its pyramid-shaped roof. But that may have been a coincidence.