This morning I was walking by 7:15, but yesterday I left in the noon hour. It was warm, on its way to the upper 80s, and I searched for shade. Unfortunately, shade is nascent at this point in the spring.

Leaves are emerging, but tree cover is thin, no match for the sultry summery weather we’re having now.

It dawned on me as I strolled that there’s a reason we don’t usually have 90+-degree weather in April. The trees aren’t ready for it, and people aren’t, either.

Warmth without shade is a perversion of the natural order. But it’s what we have now.

(The Bow Bridge in Central Park, seen through bare branches. We’re further along than NYC, of course.)