New York City, August 26, 2015

★★★★ In the shade, the early temperature was somewhere between relatively cool and absolutely so. The sun established itself, and established some heat with it, provisionally. There in the open and down in the still-choking subway were summer’s redoubts; by late day, with the sun up in the treetops and the heights of buildings, scattering window reflections, there was only the subway. A plain straight railing atop a walkup building was a streak of fire. The tiresome rumble of the air conditioner could be turned off and the windows opened, to let in the breezes and sirens of night.