Light in a courtyard house
In the old house the rooms open onto the courtyard, and in the evening the sitting moves out into the air. The lamps here are few and low, and they are enough for faces and for the step.
The house around the court
Rooms surround an open yard, and the outer door leads through a passage and then into the court. Day comes in from above, and evening needs a lamp because light from the sky is no longer enough for the step.
People do not light every room, because the sitting has moved outside. The bedroom stays dark until sleep, and the court stays lit while someone is still there.
The wind tower and the evening
The wind tower catches air from higher up and drops it into the court or into the shaded bay beside it. That air does not replace a lamp, but it explains why people sit out of the rooms after late afternoon.
When the air moves, the heat eases off the wall and the evening lasts longer. The lamp is lit when the eye loses the edge of the mat, not because the clock has reached a figure.
Where the lamps stand
One lamp sits low by the sitting mat, and one stands by the door so the step is visible. A third, if there is one, stays by the water jar rather than in the open middle of the court.
The panel is not mounted in the court where wet hands pass. Its place is a dry wall indoors, often near the entrance room, away from splashed water.
How people live with these lamps
A child does schoolwork under the nearer lamp, and the adults talk at the other end of the mat. The kettle stays in the kitchen, and the cup is carried out to the court.
If the court lamp flickers, nobody changes it in the middle of the evening with wet hands. Its breaker is opened and it is left until daylight, then it is treated as the electrician note says if the flicker returns.
What remains after the rooms are shut
At bedtime the court lamp goes off and the passage lamp stays until the last person is inside. After that the passage goes dark, and a small lamp by the door may stay if the household is used to it.
One line in the notebook is enough. Which lamp stayed on, and which breaker was opened, so the next evening is not a guess.