Take my thirsty fill.

There's a portion of the fourth floor of the NYBG library that opens onto a flat rooftop with a view of the parking lot to the west and the Thain forest to the east. On days like today, both sides are worth looking at. Warm enough to remind you the world follows through on its summer promises. The sun felt more intense than usual, maybe because I haven't seen it so clearly in a good while or maybe because it was a day I was open to seeing it at all.

When I was out there, I watched some geese fly over the forest - five of them, I counted. They circled around and my guess is they went in to land at a large field nearby, or on one of the smaller ponds in the family garden. Geese aren't a totemic symbol for me so much as it's just that I'm really fond of them, and take pleasure in spotting them in the sky. And on a day like my birthday, they were also a signal of the world moving on, as it does. Life passing in flight. Not an omen or a sign. Just a reminder.