New York City, August 29, 2017

★ The jeans came down off the shelf where they’d been for months. It was necessary to open the blinds to their widest to get enough cloudy daylight to tell which shirt was the black one and which was navy blue. The evening rain in the forecast became afternoon rain in the forecast, then early afternoon rain, its arrival jumping hours earlier each time. Drops were falling before noon. The rain pattered down without drama or spectacle, enough for a rain jacket but not for waterproof shoes. There would be no opera on the big screen at Lincoln Center. A brilliant lilac glow marked the sunset, but new clouds and new rain settled over the night.