The mix of light and haze was almost unbearable as the shadows of morning dropped. A gentle breeze was replaced by the repellent ire that drifted down over the Hudson in the early day. Oily sweet, it burned the nostrils, heightening the sense of urgency to find shelter quickly. Months, days, even years meant nothing in this early dawn, only the hours between the darkness that provided inky cover and the glaring rays of daylight. Reckoning by the sun put the hour at nearly eight, which meant the day-shift would soon be punching in, and you never wanted to be caught downtown in their kind of traffic