Lit winter wonderlands around the globe

On the darkest days of the year, in a very dark time, there is a longing for light.

People take pictures of the holiday light displays Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo.

And so, all around the world, the holiday lights go on – some of them humble, some of them spectacular, all of them a welcome respite from the dark.

Raindrops on a car window are illuminated by city lights and a giant lit figure of Santa Claus in Naples, Italy, Dec. 9, 2021.

They make the streets an interactive experience. There are tunnels of light – to walk through, as pedestrians do in Tokyo, at the zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa, and at the Holiday Road light show in Calabasas, California; to drive through, at a mall in Panay, the Philippines, where visitors remained in their cars to curb the spread of COVID-19.

People walk through a tunnel of holiday light displays, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Tokyo.

There are real trees and manmade trees and ginormous trees, like the light sculpture in Vigo, Spain, said to be the biggest tree in the world, so big that adults and children can stroll inside. Vigo goes all out for Christmas, stringing 11 million LED lights on more than 350 streets.

A woman holds a child as they stand inside a Christmas tree made of lights in Vigo, Spain, Dec. 12, 2021.

Some displays are municipal, like the silvery strings of light that adorn the lampposts of Moscow.

The Kremlin Wall, the Spasskaya Tower, Red Square, the GUM department store, the St. Basil's Cathedral and the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge are decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 12, 2021.

Some are commercial, like the lights that wrap an electronics store in Syntagma Square in Athens, turning it into a massive giftbox.

People walk in front of an electronics store decorated for Christmas at Syntagma square in Athens, Greece, Dec. 15, 2021.

And some are private, like the over-the-top trimmings of homes in the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Dyker Heights.

People crowd around holiday lights and decorations that adorn a house in Brooklyn's Dyker Heights neighborhood, Dec. 11, 2021, in New York. Residents are renowned for their displays of over-the-top Christmas light decorations with life-sized Santas, reindeer, toy soldiers, sleighs and snowmen.

All are wonderful, in the most literal meaning of the word.

Row homes are seen covered in holiday decorations along the Miracle on 34th Street Hampden Christmas Street Holiday Show, Dec. 9, 2021, in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore.

Is it possible that as the world struggles through its second Christmas season beset by disease, we need the lights to be brighter than ever?

An Aymara woman talks on her cell phone at the Tejada Sorzano square adorned with holiday lights, in La Paz, Bolivia, Dec. 13, 2021.

And so we spread them above like a celestial canopy in places from Barcelona, Spain, to the Old City of Damascus, Syria?

Visitors interact with clock lighting on the "Palace of Stardust" light trail held for the Christmas season at Hampton Court Palace in south west London, Dec. 7, 2021. The River Thames-side palace was a home of King Henry VIII and last used as a royal residence more than 200 years ago.

Is this how we rage against the dying of the light?

Children walk through a light tunnel at the city zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 12, 2021.

A person dressed as La Santa Muerte poses for a photo in Mexico City's main square the Zócalo, as the Christmas lights shine, Dec. 9, 2021.

A man takes a picture of light sculptures of polar bears set up for the upcoming New Year and Christmas holidays in Moscow, Dec. 13, 2021.

A boy is silhouetted against Christmas lights reflected on a pond as he walks through a park, Dec. 9, 2021, in Lenexa, Kan.

Pedestrians walk past a Christmas tree next to Taksim mosque at Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 10, 2021.

People walk in the Old City of Damascus, Syria, decorated for the upcoming Christmas holidays, Dec. 14, 2021.

A car passes by Christmas displays at a drive-thru Christmas installation outside a mall in Pasay, Philippines, Dec. 13, 2021.

A man walks by a Christmas tree during the lighting ceremony, outside the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, in Nazareth, Israel, Dec. 12, 2021.

Alice In Wonderland-themed light installations are presented at the 4th Festival of Great Silk Lanterns in the Land of Wonders in Pakruojis Manor, Lithuania, Dec. 18, 2021.

A woman walks past a light arch set up for the upcoming New Year and Christmas holidays in front of snow-covered trees after heavy snowfall in Moscow outskirts, Dec. 14, 2021.

Visitors walk through a light tunnel at a Holiday Road light show in Calabasas, Calif., Dec. 10, 2021. "We're thrilled that this year's guests will be able to enjoy the full Holiday Road experience," said co-founder Bobby Rossi. The pandemic turned the annual light festival into a drive-thru event last year.

Palestinian Christians, also accompanied by Muslims, light up the Christmas tree in the courtyard of the YMCA Gaza in Gaza City, Dec. 10, 2021.

Children play under a giant light installation at the city zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 12, 2021.

People walk past a light sculpture during a light sculpture festival in Pakruojis, Lithuania, Dec. 18, 2021.

A nun cleans the floor after decorating the entrance to a church with Christmas lights, in Jerusalem's Old City, Dec. 12, 2021.

A man wears special effects glasses as he walks through a light tunnel at Winterlights at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Dec. 12, 2021.

A bird's eye of the illuminated ghats on the bank of the river Ganges are seen in the evening after the the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor, a promenade that connects the sacred Ganges River with the centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Varanasi, India, Dec. 13, 2021.

Christmas decorations illuminate one of the main avenues in Barcelona, Spain, Dec. 14, 2021.