New York City, November 13, 2012

★★ The humidity fell out in bearable showers, leaving the streets and the air washed down. On Lafayette Street, where the gas-station line had been, a puddle of oil spread out on the wet pavement, iridescent magenta. Just past mid-afternoon by the clock, which was now the outskirts of sunset, the sun itself broke through. Perfect two-toned clouds, smoke above and honey below, escorted it down toward the horizon, somewhere by the Freedom Tower, more south than west.