New York City, December 11, 2017

★★★ A crunching and sloshing sound filled the schoolyard as little feet made their way over wet and broken ice. A stroller skidded through it without its wheels turning. The wonderment was gone, save for the flash of a curtain of meltwater coming off a scaffold in the sun, lovely from the other side of the street. The cold was still strong enough to work its way into the office and, slowly, right on through a dense sweater.