New York City, May 14, 2017

★★★★ The only signs of the relentless rain from the day before were still-deep puddles, now reflecting clear sky, and various pulpy things and battered green leaves stuck to the pavement. The morning breeze was fresh and cool. Sidewalk cafe seating barriers were being brought out. The clouds went, through the hours, from absent to lightly ornamental to substantial to gray. The first wave of gloom somehow passed by without raining, chased by clear light, but after it came another clot of storm, on a direct line, its clouds lumpy in places and veiled in others. It hit with a clatter of drops and a keening of wind, pausing the afternoon plans as it gusted through. In almost no time, things were bright again, the breeze dry. A child had laid a curve of wooden track, with a train on it, in the middle of a meal on an open-air table.