New York City, October 11, 2012

★★★★★ No more ersatz November. Even through the uncorrected blur of early-morning eyes, the Hudson had a far bank, solid and luminous in the sun’s first rays. Light smashed into light down the cross street to the school, throwing stroller shadows forward and backward and to the sides as they rolled. Brightness spread and multiplied and stayed through a last amber glow on the building tops. Not a cloud in the sky, a man marveled aloud, waiting at a crosswalk on Broadway. Crossing the street, checking both way, confirmed it. Not a one.