New York City, August 2, 2016

★★★★★ The clouds resolved their unfinished business and yielded the sky to clear and brilliant sun. “Perfect weather!” someone exclaimed, walking up Fifth Avenue. Was it perfect? Could a day in the first week of August ever be perfect? Wasn’t the sun maybe a little hot? A motorcyclist went by. A Miata, faded red, passed with its top down. After the daylight it was almost too dim to see inside the coffee shop. One the long way back to the office, by Union Square, a woman sat with her back against a lamppost, eating a tomato from her hand, with an open box of tomatoes across her lap. The sun dug in under the shirt collar a little. Before long, though, enough clouds had come back to allow a genuinely cool breeze to blow. And then there were just enough more clouds to make the missing sun regrettable—after which, having made their point, the clouds cleared away, leaving a richly lit sunset over a mild and welcoming evening.