It’s an overcast morning in Pittsburgh, the third day in a row of gray skies, not unusual for November. There are very few birds in view. The most active animals are squirrels.

On days like this I think of the poem ‘No!’ by Thomas Hood (1844) a portion of which reads:

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day. ...
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!