New York City, August 13, 2012

★★★ Unassertive. Down in the subway, the air was noticeably stale, which meant that the air above must have been fresher than usual. Surfacing again brought the same negative revelation — the unpleasant giving way at the top of the steps to the not-unpleasant. Is virtue nothing more than the absence of vice? You can get away with it in August. In the afternoon, a few of the drifting clouds happened to cluster in the west, making it look as if some unexpected rain might be coming. Then they dispersed, taking the moment of false drama with them. The sky was blue and open again; a twin-masted cumulus cloud sailed unhurriedly crosstown, west to east.