June arrived along the Hudson with a surge of warm, humid air that turned the banks below Stony Point lush and dense with dark foliage. The high canopy of white oaks and maples formed a continuous green roof over the lower winding trails, while wild honeysuckle climbed the granite retaining walls, filling the early morning breeze with a sweet, heavy scent.
Down at the archive construction site, the dark slate floor tiles had been laid in the main subterranean hall, and the first shipment of climate-controlled display cases had arrived from the fabrication facility in Boston. The sound of heavy machinery was gone, replaced by the quiet, meticulous work of joiners fitting hand-polished cherry panels along the gallery walls and electricians running unshielded bronze conduit for the low-volta
