Last year, we returned to New York to attend the wedding of the son of some old friends. It was my first time back in New York since we had moved to Virginia two years earlier. We stayed in a hotel near the Brooklyn Bridge, which was near the site of the wedding. When I looked out the window of the hotel, this is what I saw -- a small fragment of the afternoon sky.

In any case, the wedding was beautiful. It was in a park just below the bridge. A sky full of clouds backlit by the sun gave a gorgeous backdrop to the proceedings. After that, we went to a nearby restaurant for the reception.

The next morning, we left for our little house in the country. Somehow, the city now felt crowded and oppressive. But we made one stop before leaving -- Katz's Delicatessen on Houston Street. We had pastrami on rye with Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray. Definitely the breakfast of champions.