Was it just me or was everyone rushing on their walks late yesterday afternoon? Dog walkers and stroller pushers and people who usually saunter.

My excuse was a late start, but there was more to it than that. I glanced at my watch: it was 4:40 with a 4:59 sunset. I’d have to skedaddle.

It was an evening made for it: the scenery sliding, the air warming and cooling. Rolling up sleeves at some point, then rolling them down again when a chill came off the pond.

It’s another kind of rush hour, I thought. It was the light, lowering with every footfall, the early darkness, chasing us home. It was rush hour — not for automobiles but pedestrians.