Of late I've lived many of my days as a shut-in.  Between running AlcoholReviews.com and writing my dissertation, I spend probably a dozen hours a day in front of a computer.  Lacking a laptop, that leave me inside, in my dim study, alone excepting for my iguana, who lazes on a thick branch, snoozing much of the day.

Come late afternoon, I have to go outside.  Rain or shine, it's out for a stroll around the neighborhood and then a short sit on the stoop.

With wine glass and bottle in hand I plopped on the stoop, my knees cracking from inactivity.  The sunflowers I had planted in a small square of dirt in the sidewalk craned towards the sun, which hung low over Manhattan.  Excepting the occasional shorts or skirt clad walker, it was just me and Le Rime and a quiet street in Brooklyn.

A young woman who recently moved in to the apartment upstairs approached, her black curly locks resting on her bare shoulders.  She tossed off a light "Hey," and then smiled and said, "You look comfortable," she remarked.  I lifted my glass and smiled back.  "I am." (Rating ***1/2)