The sky was gray near the tops of the mountains, as gray as a dark day in winter.

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But then in the middle of the dark and cold winter of 2010 something happened.

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In winter, when the sky got dark early and Mother worried about her making the long commute home, Naima would sleep on my bedroom floor.

NEWYORKER: Naima

Summer or winter, firefighters walk into dark passageways in burning buildings, burdened by heavy fireproof coats and pants, air bottles strapped to backs, faces masked and vision tunneled, each in a private world.

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In the dark days of the American Revolution, just before the winter of 1776, Gen.

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But while the winter months are dark, treacherous and shrouded in a white uniform of snow, summer brings with it the chance to see this part of the world in all its green grassy goodness.

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Now that the winter solstice is almost upon us, a big turning point each year in the dark North Atlantic, WEEKEND EDITION food essayist Bonny Wolf tries to understand the food's appeal.

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Dark sand shown in one photo pokes through bright, crisp frost structures that formed in the previous winter.

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But Whistler makes for a long, expensive and potentially stressful daytrip, especially on dark winter evenings when the winding Sea-to-Sky Highway can be tricky to negotiate in a car.

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Winter, city life (with the concomitant shadows cast by tall buildings) and dark skin in dark climates all reduce this action.

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