Sultry!

I went for a walk after dinner with Stephanie. Outside it's so humid that the streetlamps have steamy halos around them.

We walk down a classic Brooklyn block between Smith and Court. Outside of a row-house, at the gate, a father and his two small children are saying goodbye to another father and his child. The little girl who belongs to the house swings from the wrought-iron gate. "Thanks, and bye," she croons.

On the next block the brownstones are even taller. Three adults sit at the top of a steep staircase, in the frame of an open front door. In front of them is an empty wine glass, a pack of cigarettes laid on its side. They seem happy.

No relief in the apartment, though, where the air's still thick and sticky. I learned a word at work today that reminds me of this air. The word is "biofilm."