New York City, May 5, 2013

★★★ There was no relaxing into the morning, despite the brightness. It was just not warm — it was brisk, even, or whatever the springtime equivalent of briskness might be. A woman huddled in her cardigan out in the misjudged chill. Later on, there were scarves out, all hope or pretense abandoned. Still it was clear, though. The toddler went out for a walk and came back sweaty. Late in the day, a yellow-white haze draped over the river. An American flag, backlit, flowed from the parapet of a setback on a Trump building. An airplane coming in was a fleck of reflected light too bright to resolve into a shape, a shimmer like a water strider’s footprints crossing the sky.