A high thin moon was cold and feeble as the distant street light.
Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon, page 166
Of course, in the context of the Hudson River Valley, that period [25 years] barely registers at all. Given a consciousness like our own, the river would probably feel it as a half-thought, not even fully articulated, passing so briefly as not to interrupt the flow of its estuarial mind.
Geoffrey L. Brackett, A River’s Pleasure, page IX