New York City, October 3, 2012

★ The morning fog lifted but the spirit of the fog remained: grayness, dampness, heaviness. Opacity or its absence was the least of it. The sidewalk along the construction site was smeared with wet grit. The thick air held smells in pockets and concentrated them, one amplified odor up against the next like bright colors on the map of Europe. Even inside, even at night, the air was stifling.