The Last Day of a Heat Wave

Look! Someone else thinks broken umbrellas are art, too! This is the work of Helen Tubridy, and it was on display recently at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Don't ask me what rambling path of internet surfing led me to it. It's pretty cool, however I still tend to prefer the real thing. And there's a good chance that some umbrellas will be broken tonight. New York has been broiling in a heat wave for the past few days. It's been getting hotter and hotter since Saturday--we've been in the 90s for the past couple of days! It's been heavenly, I think. The humidity is low, so the heat feels nice, and I've really had a chance to bust out my summer skirts. And the heat is new, so there are places it hasn't permeated, like the marble lobby of my apartment building, and the perpetually shade-covered stone benches near work, where I eat my lunch. Still, the daffodils and tulips are withering away as we've been fast-forwarding through Spring. But now the winds are picking up, the clouds are gathering, and I feel electricity in the air. A storm is coming in, and by morning the heat will be gone. With luck, the rain will wash the dusty streets clean and give those spring flowers a second chance.