New York City, October 24, 2016

★★★★ One building stood awash in coral light in the slow-arriving morning. Low sun raked the edge of the schoolyard, scintillating in the little chains by which decorations dangled from the backpack of a child who was dangling from the middle third of the tall chain-link fence, unsure how to go up or down. The sidewalk junction of the sun-blinded cross street and the dark avenue was impossible to smoothly navigate. The holly bathed in full reflected light; light came in straight and bounced straight back from the mirrored apartment to the west and glanced down from the side of the Apple Store, sending shadows radiating in multiple directions. The sidewalks were wide and clear and it was tempting, on the way to get something to eat, to keep walking. People were wearing autumn gray. A bulky parking sign with a neon arrow creaked and visibly swung overhead. The clouds were now shredded, now smooth, dense gray and white or warming to ivory and gold and finally, framed in the gap between the last and the current apartment towers, glowing like backlit parchment.