New York City, July 24, 2017

★★★★ Between the lightness of the raindrops and the heaviness of the air, it made more sense at first, uptown, to carry the rain jacket than to wear it. The air in the subway was disgusting, made more disgusting by the knowledge of how stale it had to be to still be so hot. On Union Square a wind was pushing the rain, and soon it was pouring hard enough to send people sheltering against the buildings. When it was finally spent, the streets were disorientingly chilly. Here and there a current of warmth mixed in with the raw chill. The late afternoon was milder than the early afternoon had been, and occasional spells of direct sun came through the bright rifts opening in the west. Brightness spread in steely grays. Then color bloomed; the buildings were dark but the light swelled in the sky. The children’s beach tans glowed in it around the dinner table.