We are advancing to the middle of the month of July. The equinox and seasonal transition are complete. There persists the burgeoning richness of a midsummer day, thick with invisible atmospheric resolve. We were greeted this morning by a mournful grey dome, a uniform seemingly tranquil orbit of humid haze characteristic of an impending hot summer day. The landscape was marked by a horizontal division of verdancy and fogginess through which penetrated the restfulness of a balmy breeze.

More remarkable still was the universal calm. The traffic everywhere – whether in town or on the highways – was diminished to the point of imperceptibility and mild astonishment. You can always tell when something’s up, when things have changed, when people have already departed the territory. Driving along the highways felt moderately invasive upon private domain. My introductory motion this morning while driving through our residential area reflected the identical reserve.  Garage doors appeared noticeably closed and locked. There was no-one in sight. Driveways were cleared and left conspicuously blank. The occupants were gone. No manifest intention to garden or entertain. It was altogether an abbreviated moment, a stand-still depiction. Landscapers were nowhere in evidence; their tractors and carts were removed alongside the road, awaiting disturbance at some later date.