New York City, November 14, 2012

★★★ Unable to really warm anyone anymore, the sun contented itself with shining at stuff. Out on the river, it lit the crests of the undulating superstructure of a cruise ship, maneuvering into the terminal. It sent a fat square-sided beam straight down the stairway into the Lincoln Center subway station, where it bounced off the floor, passed through the glass elevator shaft, and met people descending the opposite stairs. Its brightness in the sky convinced someone to sit at an outdoor table, huddled in a coat, clutching a takeout coffee cup. In the afternoon, one ray even found its way under the blinds and between the large-screen computers, into the perpetually dimmed office.