New York City, April 7, 2013

★★★★ A ragged, eroding island of cloud covered the occupied island below in early afternoon shadow, the latest standoff between irregular gray and weak blue. Away to the west, New Jersey seemed to be in the clear. Peonies with rusty, wilting edges on their petals crowded a sidewalk bucket. People walked slowly and obstructively. Were they enjoying the day or lingering to wait for the day to become enjoyable? A gust of hot air from a kitchen duct broke the chill, at the price of foulness. An elderly man in a tan topcoat, sitting on a red motorized scooter, rattled a change cup. Later, the sun was warm on the cheeks and the breeze was cold on the ears. The toddler paced the apartment building’s garden, casting multiple shadows. A half-uprooted sprinkler rig sprawled its rows of hoses out of a bed of bare dirt and partway onto the neighboring patch of turf. After dinner, the lowering sun charged the haze over the river with more light and color than than the sky.