April 13, 2023 - “For the first time since last September”

Fourteen minutes ago the air conditioner in the window below switched on for the first time since last September. Almost like a hiccup, the machine cleared its throat then caught its breath. Almost at once, its first roar descended into a slow and steady hum. And we at the back of the building, above the courtyard, clinging to the last few evenings of the night’s spring air blown gently into our windows, move from “what is that sound,” to “oh yeah . . . that time a year again,” just as fast.