As a kid I routinely asked my dad if the day was almost over. I always hoped it wasn't, but didn't understand the passing of time. So he would explain, in cartoon show-length units, how much day remained. Nowadays I am too familiar with each of the twenty four hours to find mystery in any of them. But wonders can be renewed.

No one saw this year's first two saved daylights; they were obscured by a Noah-like downpour. But today we all saw (I'd forgotten) what can really flood a 5:00 hour. Squinting smiles leaving offices, sunlit walks to the T, sunglasses on bikerides back home. One guy was wearing shorts, and it's not even warm yet. Bewilder-wonder. This is the feeling of School's Out For The Summer, saved for older people.

I used to like that extra hour, but what a trade-off.