THE WHISTLE OF a mourning dove was the only noticeable sign that the bedroom window was open, with outside and inside air perfectly equilibrated. A dove stood staring through its white-ringed eye, unflinching as it defecated on the just-cleaned balcony. A broad strip of mixed dried leaves and scattered garbage stretched along the avenue like a carpet runner. The air was humid and the light was scattered and glaring. In the space of 5 or 10 uneventful-seeming minutes—a quick jaunt to the store—the sky overhead passed from lumpy gray to a blue with high white streaks. Then it went back to gray again, with as little fuss as before. Even later, when the gloom seemed to have settled for good, there were still pearly or blue thinning patches up high. The evening smelled of greenery.
Correction: due to a note-taking error, the above Weather Review was wrongly dated October 4; it has been corrected to October 3, but fixing the tweet is such a pain in the ass we’re gonna mark it and move on.