Yesterday was rainy and gray from start to almost finish. At 3 p.m. it was dark enough that I had to check the clock to be sure it wasn’t 5. 

But only minutes from sunset, the clouds blew away and left a window for the light. It slanted in clear and bright and contained, more like the illumination from a half-shaded window than one thrown off by our nearest star. 

I’ve seen this phenomenon before, this last-minute light. Some days it feels like a reprieve, other days a cheat. But it’s hard to complain when it leaves an afterglow like this.