New York City, September 18, 2013

★★★★ The light bouncing under the scaffold could have passed for direct sunlight, till the direct sunlight appeared. The subway had aired out a little; Prince Street smelled of festival food. The afternoon sun made the eyes squint, and squinting brought down a lit-up line of eyebrows, blurry spangled halos along the top of the field of vision. Stacks of metal boxes of mooncakes were out on Grand Street, and someone had pomelos. Uptown, the lowering sunlight cut through the windows of cars in Trumpville, catching on every smudge. Men walked dogs and children simultaneously. Shadows lay yards and yards long on the sidewalk, or stood, on a wall, almost exactly one’s own height.