New York City, October 23, 2012

★★★ A subtle light show, undermining a simple forecast. A blue morning grayed up quickly, as expected. The air under the clouds was damp and mild, unexpectedly relaxing after days of brittle brightness. Before noon, the first raindrops fell, but the second raindrops ignored the cue. Instead the stratus layer thinned, showing high white patches above. Shadows on the windowshades sharpened, then gradually blurred, then sharpened again. In late afternoon, there was a rumor of golden sun glimmering somewhere, indirectly, off beyond other buildings. Directly outside was still gray, and thicker gray uptown. But off toward the harbor, the sky was scaled with silver. Over Broadway in the 60s, things wrapped up with a smooth evening fade from gray to dark blue.