New York City, May 29, 2013

★★★★ Gray fog turned into blue haze, dirty in the southern distance down the avenue. Late morning was still a little cool, more pleasant than it looked like it should be. Things got warmer and warmer, but were always preferable to the indoors. The sun was a glow sprawling all over the western sky, forcing the eyes down and away. How was anyone supposed to appreciate the solar alignment with the Manhattan streets if the light was coming from everywhere at once? The thick air was soothing on the skin and contentious on the nose: garbage, cologne, cooking. As it lowered, the sun pulled itself together. Golden light poured sideways across the apartment; the kindergartener did a dance with his perfectly matched shadow on the bedroom door. A magenta disc made the final descent — or half a magenta disc, sliced vertically by a building in New Jersey, with no regard for the grid.