New York City, August 26, 2012

★★★ Appropriate wallpaper. Going outside wasn’t a chore; neither was going back inside. The clouds were mostly proportionate to the sun. There was one stray big one that an excitable child could believe might have a bit of rain in it. By the time the excitable child made it into the 72nd Street subway control house — the newer one, on the uptown side of the street — the cloud had gone away, without having cast enough shade to ease the heat under the glass roof. Further down Broadway, a free sample spoon of gelato was fluffy, its surface unmelted by the ambient air. The employee running in and out to hawk the samples was wilting a little, though.