Today I’m thinking about Paris, about my dear friend Kay who has made it her home for decades. I’m thinking about the beauty of the place, the bridges and buttresses, the way the windows catch the setting sun.

I’m thinking about the forces of civilization and the forces of darkness and how their struggle is playing out across a world stage. And I’m thinking about our cities here, especially the one I now call home: the broad avenues and crisp flags flying. This city and all cities vulnerable.

Last night, watching the dazed survivors being carried to ambulances, listening to those who witnessed the horror first hand, it seemed that all was darkness, that morning would never come. Now the morning has come, but the horror is still with us. The sunlight has an edge to it and the clouds seem lower than before.