New York City, April 24, 2013

★★★★ Cool but warm but cool. Morning clouds were smallish and somewhat numerous. The sky reflected in a turning dump truck’s chrome hubcap. The sign said there were six minutes till the next 1 train, which was enough of a reminder to stop short of the turnstiles and go back up the stairs and walk down Broadway instead. Noise rumbled up from deep in the pits for the water-main project in front of Lincoln Center. Men stood outside the Time Warner Center talking on their mobile phones, making hand gestures for emphasis. The B train was waiting at the foot of the stairs. Downtown, a pink-blossoming branch stuck out of a sidewalk trash can. The late afternoon clouds had become a sheet of gauze over the sky, smothering the daylight ahead of schedule.