New York City, June 28, 2017

★★★★★ It was chilly enough on the final walk to kindergarten for the five-year-old to complain about, but not enough for him to put on the hoodie that was in his backpack. Hardly any hours later, fighter jets tore over from south to north as the parents waited for the gates to open on the end of the half day. The now ex-kindergarteners adjourned to meet again in the Sheep Meadow, where it was not easy at first to find the others in the sunny vastness. Dragonflies flew low and the clover blossoms were spongy to walk on. The children sprinted over and over from the patch of shade where the parents were to an unsupervised patch of shade in the distance. For a while the five-year-old went barefoot, then he put his shoes and socks back on and abandoned his t-shirt. The children stayed after the sandwiches and the juice boxes were all gone, past the time that a full school day would have let out. There was nothing to stop the children from running and nothing they needed to rest up for.