If Andrew Sean Greer had ridden the Staten Island Ferry more often -- or ever -- he'd know that New York City's sky can be as complex as any in the West (HCN, 9/14/09): limpid blue, thick with rainclouds, striped with vivid sunset cirrus ... an approaching squall to starboard, shafts of sunlight jeweling the whitecaps to port ... behind, the incredible prow of Manhattan ... ahead, out there, past the Statue of Liberty and the wide sky, the heaving Atlantic and the far landfalls of Europe. Breathe the salt air, feel the wind on your face, wince at the spray and appreciate the wide open sky. Not that it holds a patch on San Francisco or even, sans water, northern New Mexico. But NYC certainly yields its own dramatic skies.

David Weber