New York City, August 2, 2017

★★  Stretches of sidewalk were luminous yellow-green with the blossoms sifting down from the honey locusts. The air was heavy and the light struggled to push through it. “Ice-cold water, ice-cold water,” a vendor chanted gently at the rush-hour crowd squeezing through the stifling dimness of the connecting tunnels around 53rd and Lexington. A man drank a cup of water from the sweating glass cooler while waiting in line to buy a large iced coffee. A hard silvery downpour fell on the middle of the day, abated briefly, then came back in full. Even after it seemed to have gone it was dripping and people were ambling along under umbrellas, blocking the way. “Oh, no, that shit’s hot,” a woman said as she turned away from the undercooled interior of a 6 train car. A new storm came through during the afternoon music recital, but it had worn down to sparseness by the end, though thunder still grumbled somewhere.