New York City, May 23, 2016

★★★★ The roar of a truck rode the fresh air up into the bedroom, intruding on a refreshing but tenacious slumber. A light haze extracted an extra shimmer from the sun before letting it reach the ground. The four-year-old proudly headed out the door in a lightweight satiny tracksuit jacket. A child, recumbent in the top deck of a stroller on the forecourt plaza, belted out “The Farmer in the Dell.” Downtown the haze gave the barren width of Seventh Avenue an anticipatory it’s-hot-in-the-city cinematic light. As the sun went higher, though, a cool marine breeze floated up the sidewalk. The air grew clearer, but the light was still soft. The glare in the sky gathered into loose but neat clouds. A toddler on a scooter crashed into the ankle of an oncoming pedestrian. A scant rain fell and stopped.