New York City, October 8, 2017

★ To sleepy eyes, the light seemed stronger than the sloshing sound of traffic suggested. The ears were right, though; the rain was real and steady all morning. After it passed there were low gray clouds moving under higher whiter ones, with big gulls flapping and gliding beneath them, fading in and out. From the far side of the avenue, stroller wheels rolling over wet grit made a rattling sound like a burst of new rain. Dog turds had melted into round, chunky puddles. Breathing outside made the latent cough down in the lungs come wheezing back into action. Even as the misplaced summer air was still rotting over everything, though, the summer light was unequivocally gone. Before 6:30, lamps shone in windows in the blue of full evening.