New York City, November 16, 2017

★★ The lower, grayer bits of cloud were lively to look at from a position slumped helplessly in the armchair. The radar said the rain was gone in time for school. The street sweeper drove by with an extra-wet noise and whisked up whitewater from a puddle. Under the gray a sudden flood of light came from the east. The half-day of school was not enough time for the dampness to be off the sidewalk. By morning’s end the sun seemed to have won its pushing match with the clouds, but then a rush of gray came on, and with it a sharpened chill. Unexpected rain came, and then more full sun. Up and down the length of Fifth Avenue at least four different things were happening in the sky.