New York City, October 8, 2012

★★ The clouds grew denser throughout, in a steady slide into dimness and dark. In the chill, people were going quite beyond. On Broadway there were barn coats buttoned all the way, scarves tucked in — folks bundled up fit to go buy a Christmas tree. Puffy coats, with rolls of padding. Downtown, a leather or leather-look coat with a shearling or shearling-look collar. All the day required physically was a light jacket over a sweater, but the soul has its own thermostat. Someone had deployed quilted child-bags in a tandem stroller, a big-kid bag tipped upright in the big-kid module and an infant bag in the infant module. There seemed to be children zipped inside.