New York City, November 17, 2014

[No stars] Rain dripped on the pigeons, but they kept pursuing their pigeon-business. The ambient morning air was not necessarily cold, but the rain settled the question. Paper garbage was dissolving to pulp. From Houston Street, there was no Empire State Building uptown, and nothing much taller or more distant than City Hall downtown. By early afternoon the rain was a saturating downpour, as heavy as a summer storm, sending bubbles down the flooded gutters. Deep flowing water stretched away from the curbs for a yard, two yards. Headlights coming up Lafayette caught the spatter of the rain hitting the sheeted water. The least presentable everyday canvas sneakers were now demoted to be the rain-soaked ones, chilly and sloshing, nearly sliding out from under the body with a hasty step into a wet-floored subway car.