New York City, January 18, 2015

★ The curtains of rain billowed and never showed the slightest chance of parting. Mist gnawed on the tops of the buildings, devoured the river, chewed its way up 70th Street. Nothing would be done outside if there was a way not to do it. It was a little warm out, or unfreezing out, for the parka, but too cold for anything else as waterproof. Steam crawled out of a grate and stumbled low over the sidewalk. Even with rain boots on, it was worth finding the less flooded parts of the rain-dotted crosswalks.