text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}

Because they are the sites of planet formation, the study of protoplanetary disks is one of the primary science drivers for several recent major observing facilities. ALMA, operating at (sub-)millimeter wavelengths \citep{HLTauALMA2015}, and second-generation adaptive-optics imagers operating in the optical/near-infrared(NIR), reach comparably high angular resolutions, providing clear views of the disks at the 10~au scale for the typical star-forming regions (i.e., at $\sim$~140~pc). One of the many outstanding findings to come from such observations is that most of the disks are non-symmetric in nature when angular resolution is improved: resolved disks show gaps, rings, spirals, vortices, and shadows \citep{Andrews2018,Long2018,Benisty2015,deBoer2016,Pohl2017,Benisty2017,Avenhaus2018}. The origin (and universality) of these features is actively debated, given the clear possibility that they are tracing the {dynamical} interaction between a forming planet and its parental disk. However, other mechanisms like snow lines \citep{Zhang2015}, non-ideal MHD effects \citep{Bethune2016}, zonal flows \citep{Loren-Aguilar2015}, and self-induced dust-traps \citep{Gonzalez2015} also have the capacity to produce rings, gaps, and spirals without the need for planets.

While scattered light imaging in the optical and the NIR with, for example, SPHERE \citep{Beuzit2019} or imaging at (sub-) millimeter wavelengths with ALMA provides detailed views of the outer regions of the disks (i.e., from $\sim$10 to $\sim$500~au), these instruments are not directly sensitive to the very inner regions. Typically, the inner parts of the disks (< 5-10~au) escape from direct view because of the use of a coronagraph with SPHERE, for example.

{ This is perhaps an unfortunate situation, because the techniques most currently used today to search for extrasolar planets, namely those involving radial velocities and transit surveys, are naturally biased towards planets with small periods and thus small separations. Nevertheless, the results from these techniques clearly indicate that planets are frequent around solar-like stars (Clanton and Gaudi, 2016; Baron et al., 2019; Fernandes et al., 2019).}

{ The standard scenario for planet formation is called core accretion \citep{Pollack1996,Rice2003}. The main caveat with the original version of this scenario is that the timescale to form a Jupiter-like planet (at 5 au from the star) is longer than the typical gas-disk lifetime, with the situation becoming even worse for planets located farther away from the central star. Also, there is not enough mass available in-situ to form giant planets closer in, for example in Earth-like orbits or closer in. Nevertheless, several ways of mitigating the timescale and mass problems have been suggested. On one hand, planets can form further out and migrate inward \citep{Alibert2005}. On the other, the streaming instability in the disk midplane \citep{Youdin2005,Johansen2014} and/or pebble accretion \citep{Ormel2010,Lambrechts2012} can significantly speed up the planet formation process. Therefore, knowledge of the disk properties in the midplane is critical, and is even more so in the inner regions.}

Complementary to SPHERE and ALMA, long-baseline NIR interferometers provide { the necessary} spatial resolutions of a few milliarcseconds (mas), which is typically a fraction of an astronomical unit at 140~pc. {These instruments allow us to study the dust distribution, composition, and evolution of protoplanetary disks, which provides clues for understanding planet formation. Moreover, a  sharper view of the dust distribution in  the inner astronomical unit is also crucial to better understand  the timescales of disk evolution.} Previous NIR interferometric observations focused mostly on the brightest end of the pre-main sequence stellar distribution for lack of sensitivity. In practice therefore, Herbig Ae/Be stars constitute the bulk of the observed sample \citep[e.g.,][]{Lazareff2017}, with a few  rare exceptions for the brightest T~Tauri stars observed {with the Keck Interferometer \citep{Eisner2007,Eisner2010}, AMBER \citep{Vural2012}, and PIONIER \citep{Anthonioz2015}}. With a significant gain in sensitivity, GRAVITY \citep{GRAVITY2017} provides the opportunity to observe, at high angular resolution, a larger sample of these young, low-mass stars, which appear more compact and fainter in the NIR than the more massive Herbig stars, which is due to their cooler photospheres.

Here, we present the observations of the Solar-like pre-main sequence star RY~Lup obtained with GRAVITY in the K-band. RY~Lup is located at a distance of 158~pc \citep{GAIA-DR2-2018}. Although a range of spectral-type estimates are available in the literature, RY~Lup is now classified as K2 based on X-Shooter spectroscopic data \citep{Alcala2017}. {These latter authors also derived a luminosity of 1.7~L$_{\odot}$} {and a stellar mass of 1.47M$_{\odot}$ (from \citet{Siess2000} tracks)}, and revised the effective temperature to slightly lower values (T$_{\rm eff}$~=~4900~$\pm$~227~K) compared to previous studies { \citep[e.g., 5080~K derived from][]{Frasca2017}. Using the evolutionary tracks of \citet{Baraffe2015}, \citet{Frasca2017} derived a mass of 1.4~M$_{\odot}$ and an age of 10.2~Ma, while most of the young stellar objects of the Lupus association have an age of 1-3 Ma (see their Fig. 6).}

The SED of RY~Lup shows a significant IR excess, as well as a modest UV excess \citep{Evans1982,Gahm1989}. RY~Lup also exhibits strong photometric variability. \citet{Manset2009}, using simultaneous BV polarimetric and UBV photometric observations, showed that the polarization is high (3.0\%) when the star is faint and red (V = 12.0 mag, B-V = 1.3 mag), and low (0.5\%) when it is brighter and bluer (V = 11.0 mag, B-V = 1.1 mag). The photometric and polarimetric variabilities also share a common period of 3.75~d, leading the authors to conclude that these variations are produced by an inclined circumstellar disk that is warped close to the star, where it interacts with the stellar magnetosphere, and that co-rotates with the star.

ALMA observations of RY Lup in the 890-$\mu$m dust continuum \citep{Ansdell2016} provided the first direct indication that the disk of RY~Lup is seen at high inclination. A ring of dust is resolved around RY~Lup, surrounding an inner cavity with a diameter of 0.8" (radius $\sim$ 60~au). The results of the UV-to-NIR study performed by \citep{Arulanantham2018} to probe the details of the cavity and inner disk are fully consistent with the presence of a gas gap within the millimeter(mm)-dust cavity, confirming the pre-transition disk nature of the system. The inclination and the position angle of the disk derived from these ALMA data are 67$^\circ$ and 109$^\circ$, respectively \citep{Francis2020}. The accuracy on these angles was estimated to be 5$^\circ$ by \citet{vanderMarel2018}. The disk dust mass M$_{\rm dust}$ derived from the ALMA 1.3~mm data is 3.7 10$^{-4}$~M$_{\odot}$ and the disk gas mass is 7.1~M$_{\rm Jup}$ \citep{Ansdell2018}{, which is equal to 6.8 10$^{-3}$~M$_{\odot}$}. Using the ALMA $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O spectra, \citet{Yen2018} derived a stellar mass of 1.3~$\pm$~0.1~M$_{\odot}$. This is compatible with the estimation of 1.47~$\pm$~0.22~M$_{\odot}$ by \citet{Alcala2017}. \citet{Yen2018} also determined the disk orientation through the velocity-aligned stacking method and obtained an inclination of 55~$\pm$~5$^\circ$ and a position angle of 110$^{+5}_{-10}$deg.

\citet{Langlois2018} presented a scattered light image obtained at H-band with the VLT/SPHERE instrument. The high inclination of the disk is confirmed, and interestingly the surface brightness of the disk reveals no inner gap, as opposed to the ALMA data. This is also a frequent signature of transition disks where the central part of the disk shows a decrease in density but is not completely void of gas and dust, {especially small dust best seen in scattered light. This explains why the transition disk nature of the disk was not recognized in early SED studies \citep[e.g.,][]{Manset2009}.}

We used GRAVITY guaranteed time observations of RY~Lup {to further constrain the inner geometry} of the  circumstellar environment of RY Lup. We present our observations  in Sect.~\ref{sec:observation} and our modeling approach in Sect.~\ref{sec:modeling}. The results of our modeling are detailed in Sect.~\ref{sec:results} and discussed in Sect.~\ref{sec:interpretation}.

\section{Observations}
\label{sec:observation}

\begin{table*}[t]%
\caption{Near-infrared interferometric observations of RY~Lup.}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c}
\hline
Instrument      & Date  &       {Time} & Telescope configuration        & Spectral band & Calibrator \\
\hline
 GRAVITY        &2017-06-11     & {UT02:09-UT04:09}     & UT1-UT2-UT3-UT4 & K-band        & HD 110878 \\
\hline
PIONIER & 2011-08-07    & {UT23:48-UT00:23}     & A1-G1-I1-K0           & H-band & HIP~77964, HIP77295 \\
        &2013-05-12     & {UT03:27-UT03:56}     & A1-B2-C1-D0   &        H-band & HIP~78456, HIP~78238 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:interferometry}
\end{table*}

\begin{figure*}[t]%
\centering
\includegraphics[width=19.5cm]{GRAVITY+PIONIER_corr1.png}
\caption{K-band GRAVITY (top) and H-band PIONIER (bottom) observations of RY Lup. { Left.} \textit{{(u,v)}} plane. { Middle.} Squared visibilities as a function of the baseline. { Right.} Closure phases as a function of the longest baseline of the telescope triplet. {For GRAVITY observations, each colour corresponds to a baseline, while for PIONIER observations, the different colours illustrate different observing dates and configurations (Table~\ref{tab:interferometry})}}
\label{fig:dataGRAVITY}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{GRAVITY}

Within the context of the Young Stellar Objects Large Program of GRAVITY \citep{GRAVITY2017,Eisenhauer2011}, we observed RY~Lup with the Unit Telescopes (UTs) of the VLTI on 2017 June 11 for 2 hours. With the science channels (SCs), we recorded seven data sets at high spectral resolution ($R$~$\sim$~4000) corresponding to ten exposures,  each of 30 seconds integration time. With the fringe tracker (FT), we recorded low-spectral-resolution data (5 channels across the K-band) at a frame rate of about 1~kHz \citep{Lacour2019}. We interlaced our observations with sky exposures and observations of an interferometric calibrator, HD~110878, to retrieve the instrumental transfer function. We used the GRAVITY standard pipeline \citep{Lapeyrere2014} to reduce and calibrate the observations.

In this paper, we focus on the low spectral resolution K-band data provided by the FT for probing the inner dust rim in the K-band continuum. The high cadence of the FT frames allows the atmosphere to be frozen during each exposure of 0.85~ms, reducing the smearing effect on the interferometric fringes that can drastically degrade the visibilities. The FT calibrated data and the \textit{{(u,v)}}-plane coverage of our observations are displayed in the top penal of  Fig.\ref{fig:dataGRAVITY}. RY~Lup is partially resolved with the UT baselines, with squared visibilities ranging from 0.55 to 0.8, and we detect no clear departure from centro-symmetry since the closure phases are all in agreement with zero.

\subsection{Complementary data}

\paragraph{VLTI/PIONIER}

RY~Lup was observed in the H-band with the PIONIER instrument of the VLTI \citep{Lebouquin2011}. We used two datasets obtained with two different configurations of the auxiliary telescopes (ATs; Table~\ref{tab:interferometry}). The data were reduced with the standard PIONIER pipeline. RY~Lup is partially resolved in the H-band with visibilities squared between 0.4 and 0.9 (Fig.\ref{fig:dataGRAVITY}-bottom). The visibilities quickly decline at the baselines between zero to a few meters, which is generally interpreted as the contribution of a component that is much more extended than the angular resolution of the interferometer.
{Such a contribution can be interpreted as scattered light, as described in detail in \citet{Pinte2008b} and {as applied in} \citet{Anthonioz2015} who derive a ratio of 0.41 between the scattered light flux and the stellar flux for RY~Lup in their composite model (see their Table 5 and Fig. 2).}

\paragraph{Photometry}

We use nonsimultaneous photometric data from the literature  to build the SED (see Table~\ref{tab:photometry}) as well as the Spitzer/IRS spectrum \citep{Chen2016} to cover the mid-IR (MIR) and the silicate features at 10 and 20 microns. In order to minimise the impact of the known stellar variability, we use the X-Shooter spectrum published by \citet{Alcala2017} to provide data over a wide range, from the B- to the K-bands.

\begin{table}[h]
\caption{Photometric data used to build the SED of RY~Lup.}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{llll}
\hline
$\lambda$   & F & $\sigma_{F}$  &  Reference \\
 ($\mu$m) & (W.m$^-2$) & (W.m$^-2$) & ~  \\
\hline
 3.40   & 1.33 $10^{-12}$  & 2.6$10^{-13}$                                                      & Johnson L $^{(a)}$   \\
 5.03 & 7.39 $10^{-13}$  & 1.5$10^{-13}$                & Johnson M $^{(a)}$   \\
 11.5& 3.87 $10^{-13}$  & 2.3$10^{-14}$                                                         & IRAS 12 $^{(b)}$   \\
 23.8& 3.55 $10^{-13}$  & 2.5$10^{-14}$                                                                 & IRAS 25 $^{(b)}$   \\
 61.8& 2.72 $10^{-13}$  & 2.4$10^{-14}$                                                                 & IRAS 60 $^{(b)}$   \\
 102& 1.62 $10^{-13}$  & 1.9$10^{-14}$                                                          & IRAS 100 $^{(b)}$   \\
 890 &9.26 $10^{-16}$    & 3.3$10^{-18}$                                                                        & ALMA $^{(c)}$     \\
 1330 & 1.94 $10^{-16}$ & 1.5 $10^{-18}$ & ALMA $^{(c)}$ \\
 \hline
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:photometry}
\end{center}
\tablefoot{\noindent $^{(a)}$ \citet{morel1978}; $^{(b)}$ \citet{Abrahamyan2015}; $^{(c)}$ \citet{Ansdell2016};  \citet{Ansdell2018}}
\end{table}

\begin{figure*}[t]%
\centering
\includegraphics[width=15cm]{Figure2SED.png}
\caption{{ Spectral energy distributions corresponding to our models of RY Lup: M50 for an inclination of 50$^\circ$ with $r_{in}~=~0.12$~au (black solid line) and $r_{in}~=~0.17$~au (red dashed line), and M70 for an inclination of 70$^\circ$ (black dotted-line)} compared with the photometric measurements (orange circles; Table~\ref{tab:photometry}), the X-Shooter spectrum (blue crosses), and the Spitzer/IRS spectrum (red plus).  { The green lines display the SEDs calculated with the disk parameters of { M50} (dashed line) and of { M70} (dotted line)} models but using the stellar parameters (T$_{\rm eff}$, L$_*$), { and the inclination of 75$^\circ$} used by \citet{Langlois2018}. See text for details.}
\label{fig:SED}%
\end{figure*}

\section{{A transition disk model for RY~Lup}}
\label{sec:modeling}

We used the radiative transfer code MCFOST to model the SED, the NIR, and sub-mm images, and the NIR H- and K-band interferometric data of RY~Lupi. MCFOST is a 3D continuum radiative transfer code based on the Monte Carlo method \citep[see][for a complete description and benchmarking]{pinte2006,Pinte2009}.
{MCFOST includes multiple anisotropic scattering whenever needed with a complete treatment of polarization. It also includes passive dust heating assuming radiative equilibrium, and continuum thermal re-emission. Viscous heating was not considered in our calculations. Very briefly, the code first computes the temperature structure assuming that dust is in radiative equilibrium with the local radiation field. This is done by propagating photon packets, originally emitted by the central star, through a combination of scattering (following Mie theory), absorption, and re-emission events until they exit the computation grid.}

We used a parametric disk model for our calculations. The disk geometry includes a surface density $\Sigma\left(r\right)=\Sigma_0 \left(r/r_0\right)^{-p}$ and a scale height $h\left(r\right) = H_0 \left(r/r_0\right)^{\beta}$~prescription, with $r_0$~=~100~au. During calculations, we ensured that the dust temperature at the inner radius { does not exceed} the sublimation temperature, $T_{\rm sub}$, which we set at 1500~K. { To achieve this we set the position of the inner disk, iteratively if needed, to ensure that the maximum dust temperature does not exceed $T_\mathrm{sub}$}. We considered dust grains with sizes distributed according to the power law $dn\left(a\right) \propto a^{-3.5} da$ and we assumed two different grain size populations, that is, small grains (whose diameters $a$ vary between 0.01 and 1.1~$\mu$m) and large grains ($a$~=~10-1000~$\mu$m). {For simplicity the grains are made of "astronomical silicate" and we used the optical properties published by \citet{Draine1984}.} { In our calculations we assumed that the dust is at local thermodynamic equilibrium, and in radiative equilibrium with the stellar radiation field: at a given position, grains of all sizes have the same temperature, $T_\mathrm{dust}$.} For the photosphere, we adopted a NEXTGEN stellar atmosphere model \citep{Hauschildt1999} with an effective temperature of T$_{\rm eff}$~=~4800~K and a surface gravity of $\log$~g~=4.0.

We distributed the two grain populations in two distinct zones in the disk to describe a typical geometry for transition disks. This choice is guided by the ALMA images showing a ring of emission starting at $\sim$50~au and extending out to $\sim$125~au. This mm emission is dominated by large grains (zone \#2 in our model). On the contrary, the SPHERE NIR image is dominated by scattering and small grains, and shows a disk extending all the way to the center (zone \#1 in our model). Furthermore, following the results obtained for HL~Tau by \citet{Pinte2016} and for a sample of edge-on disks (Villenave et al. 2020, submitted), we distributed the small dust in a flared disk with a standard aspect ratio in zone \#1 (h/r $\sim$ 0.2) but we assumed significant vertical settling for the larger dust in zone \#2. The dust in this zone (i.e., the ALMA ring) is therefore more concentrated toward the midplane with h/r $\sim$ 0.03.

\begin{table*}[t]
\caption{Star and disk parameters of our models of RY~Lup{ , M50, and M70}. {See main text for the definitions and the corresponding references for the fixed values.}}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{l c c c}
\hline
Parameters       & { M50}& { M70}   & Range of explored values       \\
\hline
Effective temperature $T_{\rm eff}$ [K] & 4800& { 4800} & Fixed \\
Stellar luminosity $L_{\star}$  [$L_{\odot}$]   & { 2.5} & { 4.65}    & [1.5-9.5]  \\
Interstellar Extinction $A_{\rm v}$  [mag]         & 0.7& { 1.2}                   & [0.3-{ 1.2}] \\
\midrule
{ Disk - Zone \#1} & & \\
\midrule
Dust mass $M_{\rm dust}$  [$M_{\odot}$]    & $9.0 \times10^{-5}$  & { $7.0 \times10^{-5}$}    & [$3.0 \times10^{-3}$-$9.0 \times10^{-5}$]   \\

Flaring index $\beta$         & 1.11    & { 1.25}             & [1.015-1.25]    \\

a$_{\rm min}$ [$\mu m$ ]           &  0.01 & { 0.8} &{[0.001- 0.8]} \\
a$_{\rm max}$ [$\mu m$ ]          &  1.1  &  {  1.1} &[1.1-1.7] \\
Scale height $H_0$ [au]$^{(1)}$            & 22 & { 8.5}                   &    [11-23]\\
Inner radius $R_{\rm in}$   [au]     & 0.12          & { 0.29}        &  {[0.08- 0.29]}   \\
Outer radius $R_{\rm out}$   [au]     & 125               & { 125}   &  Fixed   \\
\midrule
{ Disk - Zone \#2} & &  \\
\midrule
Dust mass $M_{\rm dust}$  [$M_{\odot}$]    & $2.81 \times10^{-4}$   & { $1.5 \times10^{-4}$}    & [$3.0 \times10^{-3}$-$9.0 \times10^{-5}$]   \\
Flare index $\beta$         & 1.125 & { 1.125}                & { [1.015}-1.25]    \\

a$_{\rm min}$ [$\mu m$ ]           &  10  & { 10} &  [1-15] \\
a$_{\rm max}$ [$\mu m$ ]          &  1000  & { 1000} &[100-1200] \\
Scale height $H_0$ [au]$^{(1)}$            & 3   & { 7}                 &    [2-20]\\
Inner radius $R_{\rm in}$   [au]     & 50          & { 50}        &     Fixed  \\
Outer radius $R_{\rm out}$   [au]    & 125            & { 125}       & Fixed  \\ \midrule

Inclination $i$ [$^{\circ}$]         & 50        & { 70}             &  [0-90]  \\
Position angle $PA$   [$^{\circ}$]$^{(2)}$           & 109& { 109}                   & Fixed \\
{ Maximal temperature at the inner rim $T_{\rm max}$ [K]} & { 1700} & { 1456} & { Computed by MCFOST}\\
\midrule
{ Reduced $\rm \chi^{2}_{SED}$ }&   { 23}    &   { 24}   & \_ \\
{ Reduced $\rm \chi^{2}_{V^2}$} &   { 1.58}  &   { 15}   & \_ \\
\hline

\end{tabular}
\label{tab:ModelParam}

\noindent { Notes.} $^{(1)}$ at a reference radius of 100~au. $^{(2)}$ From north to east.
\end{table*}

{Disk modeling can be a large multi-dimensional effort where finding the best-fitting, unique solution is CPU-expensive. Ideally, one would like to identify the best and unique solution to best fit all the data available. For RY~Lup, that would be the SED, the SPHERE and ALMA images (NIR and mm), the IRS spectrum of the silicate features, and the NIR interferometric visibilities at H- and K-bands for example. However, as demonstrated by  \citet[see Fig.~9 and Tab.~5]{Pinte2008} for example, this can  only be achieved by running a very significant number of models. Running models of any individual sets of constraints, that is, the SED alone or the images alone, systematically provides solutions of lesser quality, with broader and shallower probability distribution functions \citep[][for the case of IM Lupi]{Pinte2008}.
{ It is also relevant to stress here that additional constraints, coming a posteriori, can identify different or better solutions that were not indicated by the original modeling effort. This is the case for the models presented in \citet{Pinte2008} for example, where a posteriori CO observations \citep{Panic2009} revealed that the gas disk radius is at least twice that found by \cite{Pinte2008} based on continuum data only. Therefore,} we considered here that finding the ultimate model solution to match all the data available simultaneously { was} beyond the scope of the paper, as the paper focuses primarily on the new results provided by the GRAVITY instrument. We have therefore chosen a simpler approach. First we identified a model that correctly reproduces the SED. The adjustment is made by visual inspection and is not the result of a formal minimization. We focus in particular on  correctly matching the optical/NIR part as this is the wavelength range where, in a second step, we calculate images and visibilities to compare with the VLTI interferometric data. The results from the SED fitting are presented in \S\ref{sec:SED} below. To model the visibilities, the SED model identified in the first step { is then} adjusted, and modified as minimally as possible, to match the NIR interferometric data while maintaining a good match to the SED. The results are presented in \S\ref{sec:visibility}.}

\section{Results}
\label{sec:results}

\subsection{Spectral energy distributiion, circumstellar extinction, and revised stellar luminosity}
\label{sec:SED}

An SED was constructed using the photometric data listed in Table~\ref{tab:photometry}. We {visually tested} several models by spanning different ranges of stellar luminosity (L$_*$), disk dust mass, flaring index ($\beta$), scale height ($H_0$), and inclination ($i$) to broadly match the shape of the SED. {The explored ranges are given in the last column of Table 3.} Well-defined parameters were kept fixed at values derived from previous studies. {Interstellar extinction ($A_v$) was applied a posteriori to the modeled SED. This is in addition to the circumstellar extinction naturally caused by the disk and fully taken into account during calculations.}
{In this first modeling step, to match the SED only, we fixed the inner radius at{ 0.17~au.}} The disk outer radius R$_{\rm out}$ is set fixed to 125~au \citep{Ansdell2018}, and the total dust mass  M$_{\rm dust}$ is set to 3.7 10$^{-4}$~M$_{\odot}$ {(the sum of the dust mass in the two model disk zones)}, which provides a good match to the SED and the mm-flux. We set the position angle from ALMA observations to 109$^\circ$ \citep{Ansdell2018} and consider a distance of 158~pc \citep{GAIA-DR2-2018}.

{The recent scattered light images presented by \citet{Langlois2018} suggest that the disk reduces the apparent stellar luminosity because of circumstellar extinction, by occulting the photosphere. In our calculations, the luminosity was therefore left as a free parameter. We found that in order to match the observed flux density, a luminosity of $\sim${ 2.5}~L$_{\odot}$ is needed. This is a factor of $\sim${ 1.5} higher than the value of 1.7~L$_{\odot}$ reported by \citet{Alcala2017}.
Our revised luminosity translates into a stellar radius of R$_{\star}={ 2.29}\, $R$_{\odot}$, when considering an effective temperature of 4800~K. The circumstellar extinction is calculated self-consistently by the radiative transfer code, which includes the
effects of anisotropic and multiple scattering. An additional small amount of {\sl interstellar extinction}, A$_{\rm v}$ = 0.7~mag, is needed to match the shape of the SED in the optical/NIR (with $R_{\rm v}$~=~3.1). A model that reproduces the overall shape of the SED reasonably well is shown in Figure~\ref{fig:SED}. Its parameters are given in Table 3 { in the column entitled M50 (the inclination of this model is 50$^\circ$}). {As we show in the following section, this inclination and model M50 produce the best agreement with the GRAVITY data.}

\begin{figure*}[t]%
\centering
\includegraphics[width=9cm]{Totaldisk50.png}
\includegraphics[width=9cm]{DiskImage50new.png}
\includegraphics[width=18.5cm]{GRAVITY_PIONIERHKdatamodel.png}
\caption{{ Top.} Intensity maps produced by MCFOST for our model M50 of RY~Lup in the K band for the whole disk (left) and zoom in at the milliarcsecond scale of the central region (right). { Middle.} Observed squared visibilities (red circles) with GRAVITY (left) and PIONIER (right) compared with the visibilities computed with our model { M50} (black circles). { Bottom.} Observed closure phases (red circles) with GRAVITY (left) and PIONIER (right) compared with the closure phases computed with our model { M50} (black circles).}
\label{fig:M50}
\end{figure*}

{For comparison, we overplotted the SED computed for our disk model { M50}, which has the same geometry and interstellar extinction, but takes the { inclination,} luminosity, and  effective temperature used by \citet{Langlois2018} following \citet{Manset2009}, that is  50$^\circ$,  L$_*~=~2.4~$L$_{\odot}$ (calculated from a stellar radius of 1.72~R$_{\odot}$), and an effective temperature of 5500~K. Clearly, the resulting SED (displayed by the green dashed line in fig.~\ref{fig:SED}) is globally too faint to match the photometric data.
{ This is because the model by \citet{Langlois2018} does not include an inner disk. The disk used by these latter authors is a single flat dust ring with a large inner cavity extending out to r~=~18~au, as suggested by ALMA \citep{Ansdell2016}. In that case the photosphere is not occulted by the disk, even though the authors are considering a high inclination of 75\degr, contrary to a case where the inner disk would be located much closer to the star, as in our M50 model.}}

{ However, since the SPHERE and ALMA images of the outer disk suggest an inclination of about 70~$^\circ$ \citep{Langlois2018,Francis2020}, we also investigated the parameter space needed to reproduce the SED at such a high inclination. The SED of this model, that we call M70, is overplotted in black dotted line in Fig.~\ref{fig:SED}. Its parameters are given in the column M70 of Table 3.} { The overall agreement with the SED is similar to, though  slightly poorer than, the one provided by the M50 model { (see the values of reduced $\chi^2$ for the SED fits in Table~\ref{tab:ModelParam})}. Of importance, the flux density in the GRAVITY range is correctly reproduced. Due to the higher inclination of the system, the disk blocks more flux from the star compared to the M50 model. Accordingly, the stellar luminosity of the M70 model has to be higher to match the SED data. We find a luminosity of {4.65}~$L_\odot$, which translates into a stellar radius of {R$_{\star}=3.13\, $R$_{\odot}$} for an effective temperature of 4800~K.}

\subsection{Visibility fitting}
\label{sec:visibility}

{After identifying a disk model that matches the SED reasonably (Fig.~2), we added one layer of complexity by calculating images and visibilities to verify the capacity of that model to also fit the VLTI interferometric data. We first computed intensity maps in the H- and K-bands with a pixel sampling of 0.05~mas, as illustrated in the top panel of Figure~\ref{fig:M50} for the K-band. This sampling is about 70 times denser than our K-band spatial resolution and 55 times denser than our H-band spatial resolution. These images were then processed by Fourier transform to produce interferometric visibilities. We used the ASPRO2 tool{\footnote{Available at http://www.jmmc.fr/aspro}} provided by JMMC to compute the visibilities with the exact same \textit{{(u,v)}}-coverage as the observations and to take into account the field of view of the telescopes through a convolution with a Gaussian whose half width at half maximum (HWHM) is equal to the point spread function of the telescopes (i.e., 60~mas for the UTs and 250~mas for the ATs).

\begin{figure*}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=14cm]{MODEL70_V2CP.png}
\caption{ Squared visibilities (left) and closure phases (right) as observed with GRAVITY (red circles) and as computed with our model M70 (black circles).}
\label{fig:M70}%
\end{figure*}

{ For model M50, we needed to slightly adjust the inner disk radius to fine tune the adjustment of the visibility curves, while maintaining a proper match to the SED.} An inclined disk (with an inclination of $\sim$50$^\circ$) and an inner dust rim R$_{in}$ at 0.12~au correctly fits the SED and the NIR interferometric observations (Fig.~\ref{fig:M50}).} { We note that reducing the inner radius to 0.12~au entails an increase in the maximum dust temperature at the inner disk up to 1700~K, slightly beyond to adopted sublimation temperature of 1500~K, but still reasonable.} {The fit of the high-quality GRAVITY {visibilities} is excellent. Our model is also in agreement with the PIONIER data, considering the larger error bars of these datasets, even if the difference between the data and the model is larger. Such a difference could come from the variability of the source because the geometry of the inner disk is expected to be very similar in both the H- and K-bands. {Contemporary interferometric datasets are needed to investigate this in more detail.} We also verified that our { M50} model leads to closure phase signals that are consistent with $\sim$~0$^\circ$, as observed by both GRAVITY and PIONIER { (Fig.~\ref{fig:M50}). This is the case because even if the central part of the disk model is not centro-symmetric, its compactness (1~mas or less) is such that it is only partially resolved by GRAVITY as shown by the squared visibilities higher than 0.55, even at the longest baselines}. The parameters of our final model { M50} are given in Table~\ref{tab:ModelParam}.

{ For the M70 model, we failed to correctly  reproduce the GRAVITY visibilities (Fig~\ref{fig:M70}), even when changing the inner rim position which is about three times further away from the star than for the M50 model due to the higher luminosity. In particular, the modeled visibilities along three baselines exhibiting a position angle of 150-160$^\circ$ (in green, orange, and yellow in Fig. 1) remain systematically larger than those measured during observations. { See the values of reduced $\chi^2$ for the visibility fits in Table~\ref{tab:ModelParam}).}}

\section{Discussion and concluding remarks}
\label{sec:interpretation}

{Taking into account the dimming of the photospheric flux caused by the extinction from the inclined disk, we derive a revised luminosity of { {2.5} L$_{\odot}$ for an inclination of 50$^\circ$ (M50)}. For comparison, \citet{Alcala2017} report a luminosity of 1.7~L$_{\odot}$ for a similar effective temperature.} {With the effective temperature and luminosity we estimated { for M50}, RY~Lup registers in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram immediately outside the range calculated by \citet{Baraffe2015} (see Fig. 6 of \citet{Frasca2017}, in-between the 1~ and 3~Ma isochrones). These latter calculations stop at 1.4~M$_{\odot}$, implying a small extrapolation, but such an extrapolation would indicate a mass slightly above 1.4~M$_{\odot}$ and an age of $\sim$~{ 2~Ma} for RY Lup { for M50}. Using the \citet{Siess2000} tracks for Lupus, this would { correspond to a $\sim$~1.6~M$_{\odot}$ and 3-4~Ma} pre-main sequence star (see, e.g., Fig.~2 of \citet{Alcala2017}). A comparison with older pre-main sequence tracks by \citet{DAntona1994} converts into a $\sim$~{ 1.3}~M$_{\odot}$ and $\sim$~1~Ma pre-main sequence object, using their CM convection models
In all cases, this brings the age of RY Lup (about 2.0~Ma) more in line with the age of the Lupus association, in opposition to the estimations of  for example 10.2~Ma by \citet{Frasca2017} and 12~Ma by \citet{Manset2009}. This discrepancy can be explained by the systematic underestimation of the luminosity caused by not taking into account the circumstellar extinction due to the disk, and only assuming a mild interstellar extinction of the photosphere in agreement with the observed photospheric colors. The underluminous nature of highly inclined disk systems in Lupus is discussed in \citet{Frasca2017}, although not specifically for RY~Lup. Other similar cases of underluminous, highly inclined disk systems in Lupus, whose ages {are drastically higher than the age of the Lupus association}, include MY~Lupi, Sz 112, and Par-Lup 3-4 \citep{Alcala2017}. }

{{ For M50,} the evolutionary models mentioned above also predict masses that are in agreement with observations. The estimates range from 1.47~$\pm$~0.22~$M_{\odot}$ to 1.3~$\pm$~0.1~$M_{\odot}$ \citep[][respectively]{Alcala2017,Yen2018}}, the latter being a "dynamical mass" estimated from the observed rotation of the gas disk.
{ For the model with an inclination of 70$^\circ$ (M70), the derived luminosity is higher ({4.65}~L$_{\odot}$) and corresponds to a mass larger than 2~M$_{\odot}$ using the Siess tracks, which is well above the observed estimates.} At this stage, { we need to recall that our favored model for the system (M50)} does not include a detailed modeling of the scattered light image, and in particular the solution for the disk scale height is driven by the SED, and it is therefore possible (if not probable) that the stellar luminosity we derived, although improved with respect to previous estimates, still requires refinement based on a much more thorough analysis of all the data available. Given the intrinsic  large variability of the star, such refinement is well beyond the scope of this paper.}

{ Within the range of parameters explored in Table 3, we could not find another disk model that was able to reproduce both the SED and the visibilities properly.} Indeed, many parameters are well constrained either by the SED (e.g., the stellar luminosity and the extinction, the disk dust mass, and flaring) and/or by the interferometric data (the inner radius).

{It is worth comparing the inclination of the dusty disk we derive to match the SED and interferometric data with the large-scale disk images provided by SPHERE and ALMA. Our models with inclinations larger than 50$^\circ$ produce too much extinction in the SED.
More extinction would force the stellar luminosity to higher values than { 2.5~L$_{\odot}$}, making the object more massive and in tension with current mass and age estimates{, as demonstrated with the M70 model}. A disk inclination of 50~$^\circ$ is in agreement with the inclination determined from the ALMA CO spectra analysed by \citet{Yen2018} (55~$\pm$~5$^\circ$). However, the inclinations derived from the aspect ratio of the large-scale outer disk imaged by SPHERE \citep[70~$^\circ$;][]{Langlois2018} and ALMA \citep[67~$\pm$~5$^\circ$;][]{Francis2020} are marginally discrepant with our model. Finally, { the comparison of the GRAVITY interferometric data with model M70 clearly shows that this model is { unable to reproduce the visibility curve in detail}, in particular for the three baselines that directly probe the front of the inner rim due to their orientations.

{ In all of the models presented above the inner disk is sharp, with a clear density truncation in the radial direction at the inner radius. We explored a more realistic geometry, although parametric, for the inner disk by making the inner wall rounder (larger $\mathrm R_{in}$ with increasing |z| distance). The jump in density was also made smoother by using a steep exponential taper in the radial direction at the inner radius.
Even with this parametrization of the density at the inner rim we failed to correctly fit the visibility curve at all spatial frequencies.} Our model considers only a single inclination for the inner and outer parts of the circumstellar disk for now, and  we have not yet investigated a potential warp or misalignment to reconcile the observed inclinations of the inner and outer disks.} {To go further, it would be necessary to improve the details of the vertical structure of the disk. A vertically thinner disk would allow for example to accommodate a larger inclination while maintaining the circumstellar extinction at the current level.}

{\citet{Langlois2018} reports the presence of spiral arms in the H-band scattered light image. If a planet is driving these spirals, then the radial and vertical disk structure can be dynamically altered by the forming planetary companion, leading among other effects to a misalignment between the inner and outer disks that could also reconcile the inclination measurements of the inner and outer disks. Such a misalignment is also invoked to explain the shadows observed in the SPHERE images \citep{Marino2015}. Complementary high-angular-resolution techniques covering different spectral ranges (e.g., GRAVITY, SPHERE, ALMA) allow such inclination differences in protoplanetary disks to be  to investigated provided the interferometric \textit{{(u,v)}}-coverage is high enough to produce a high-fidelity image of the inner disk, which is not the case for our observations of RY~Lup. Within this context, the sensitivity gain brought by the NAOMI adaptive optics systems on the ATs \citep{Woillez2019} is important for expanding the \textit{{(u,v)}}-coverage and also for improving the measurement accuracy to look for variability and/or to better constrain the scattering phenomena that can be investigated through interferometric observations at very short baselines. Additional and complementary data, also including the interferometric instrument MATISSE \citep{Lopez2018} operating in the MIR range, and probing the intermediate scales between the very innermost regions (<~1~au) probed by NIR interferometry and the few tens of astronomical units probed by ALMA, would allow us to constrain the more complex features of this dusty disk. For this purpose, due to the variability of the source, a multi-technique campaign of simultaneous observations would be required.}

\begin{acknowledgements}
GRAVITY was developed via a collaboration of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, LESIA of Paris Observatory and IPAG of Universit\'e Grenoble Alpes/CNRS, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, the University of Cologne, the Centro Multidisciplinar de Astrofisica Lisbon and Porto, and the European Southern Observatory. The authors warmly thank C. Manara for providing the X-shooter spectrum. Y.-I.B. acknowledges support by Science Foundation Ireland under under Grant No. 18/SIRG/5597. K.P. acknowledges funding from LABEX OSUG@2020 (Investissements d'avenir ANR10LABX56). F.M. acknowledges funding from ANR of France under contract number ANR-16-CE31-0013. TH acknowledges support from the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program via the ERC Advanced Grant "Origins" (grant number 832428).A.A., M.F. and P.G. were supported by Funda\c{c}\~{a}o para a Ci\^{e}ncia e a Tecnologia, with grants reference UIDB/00099/2020 and SFRH/BSAB/142940/2018. This work was supported by the "Programme National de Physique Stellaire" (PNPS) of CNRS/INSU co-funded by CEA and CNES. This research has made use of the NASA Astrophysics Data System and of the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center \texttt{Aspro} service\footnote{Available at http://www.jmmc.fr/aspro}.\\

\end{acknowledgements}
\bibliographystyle{aa}

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text:
NGC 5431 is een spiraalvormig sterrenstelsel in het sterrenbeeld Ossenhoeder. Het hemelobject werd op 25 april 1883 ontdekt door de Duitse astronoom Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel.

Synoniemen
 MCG 2-36-20
 ZWG 74.65
 PGC 50046

Zie ook
 Lijst van NGC-objecten

Externe links
  NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
  SIMBAD Astronomical Database
  SEDS

NGC-object in Ossenhoeder
Sterrenstelsel in Ossenhoeder

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text:
Goldobin latest Russian starring in Sarnia
by Mike G. Morreale
CALGARY -- Sarnia Sting right wing Nikolay Goldobin knows all about Nail Yakupov and how he was selected first by the Edmonton Oilers at the 2012 NHL Draft.
Yakupov spent two seasons in Sarnia, totaling 31 goals and 69 points in 42 games during an injury-shortened 2011-12 season. As a rookie in 2010-11 he had 101 points to lead the Sting and all Ontario Hockey League first-year players. His scoring also surpassed Steven Stamkos' team records for goals (42) and points (92) by a Sarnia rookie.
CSS 2014 MIDTERM RANKINGS
North America: Skaters | Goaltenders
International: Skaters | Goaltenders
Does Goldobin consider himself the best Russian out of Sarnia since Yakupov?
"I want to be drafted high, in the top five," Goldobin told NHL.com. "We don't talk much about Yakupov but we do talk about his play in the NHL. It's been a big transition for me playing in Canada the last two seasons. In Canada the hockey is way faster than Russia."
Director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr said he feels Goldobin is one of the best goal-scorers available in the 2014 NHL Draft.
"The one thing he has in common with Yakupov is that you can see how ecstatic he is to score," Marr said. "When Central Scouting puts the list together we don't look at the players' passport. I'm not saying the team's do but they may have a different emphasis when they put their list together or when they're making their selections. As we've seen in the past some special players do tend to fall a little bit because there is some concern."
Goldobin was No. 14 on Central Scouting's midterm ranking of the top draft-eligible North American skaters. He was the second-highest Russian-born skater on the North American list, behind No. 12 Ivan Barbashev of the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
"To me Goldobin is one of those players who can potentially get to the NHL sooner than other players taken ahead of him, but that's just because players develop at different degrees at this age group," Marr said. "He's got decent size (5-foot-11.5, 178 pounds) and has the attitude and personality that portrays an offensive game."

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text:
Geoengineering.global
advancing the mitigation of Climate Change and Global Warming through Geoengineering education and research
Geoengineering Websites
Natural Climate Solutions
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International Challenges of SRM
Space-based Geoengineering
Stratospheric Aerosol Injection
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Direct Air Capture
Albedo Modification is a geoengineering or climate engineering approach that reverses Global Warming by increasing the Earth's albedo and ability to reflect sunlight back into space.
For hundreds of years, human civilization has been changing the surface of the land through deforestation, desertification, and agriculture. Forests, grasslands, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems have been replaced with cropland. With the exception of the recent loss of ice sheets and glaciers, these land cover changes have led to increases in surface albedo. Albedo is the property of the surface of the Earth to reflect or absorb solar radiation (See NASA's This World Is Black and White video below which describes the concept of albedo).
NASA's This World Is Black and White. An example of how natural ecosystems carry out Albedo Modification. Courtesy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Hansen et al. (1998) estimated that surface alterations have led to a decrease in Earth's radiation balance by 0.2 +/- 0.2 W/m2 (watts per square meter) since 1850 due to increases in albedo. They estimate that this has led to the cooling of the planet by 0.14 degrees Celsius.
Using a global croplands dataset (estimating croplands from 1700 to 1992) and a complex climate model that used 0.17 as an estimate of the average albedo of croplands, Mathews et al. (2003) estimated that changes in cropland area had reduced the Earth's radiation balance by 0.15 W/m2 and temperature by 0.09 degrees Celsius.
Albedo Modification in Agriculture
Kaye and Quemada (2017) carried out a study of the albedo modification potential of cover crops (fava beans, clover, etc.) during the fallow season (the time period between the harvest and the seeding of a new season of crops). They estimated that cover crops could increase the albedo of agricultural areas from 0.17 to 0.21 (.30 on the high end). They also found that the use of cover crops could mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon in the soil and reducing the use of fertilizers. They estimated that cover crops could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 116 to 135 g of CO2 per square meter per year. They concluded that the application of cover crops could potentially reduce agricultural emissions by 10%.
Hansen, J.E., Sato, M., Lacis, A., Ruedy, R., Tegen, I. and Matthews, E., 1998. Climate forcings in the industrial era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95(22), pp.12753-12758.
Matthews, H.D., Weaver, A.J., Eby, M. and Meissner, K.J., 2003. Radiative forcing of climate by historical land cover change. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(2).
National Research Council 2015. Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18988.


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HomeBooksFiction & Literature
Sourland: Stories
by Joyce Carol Oates
"Oates is a fearless writer."
"Oates is a master of the dark tale—stories of the hunted and the hunter, of violence, trauma, and deep psychic wounds."
—Booklist (starred review)
Sourland is a gripping, haunting, and intensely moving collection of short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, one of America's preeminent authors. Unforgettable tales that re-imagine the meaning of loss—often through violent means—Sourland is yet another extraordinary read from the literary icon who has previously brought us The Gravedigger's Daughter, Blonde, We Were the Mulvaneys, and numerous other classic works of contemporary fiction.
Publisher: HarperCollinsReleased: Sep 14, 2010ISBN: 9780062010728Format: book
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Sourland - Joyce Carol Oates
PUMPKIN-HEAD
In late March there'd been a sleet storm through north central New Jersey. Her husband had died several days before. There was no connection, she knew. Except since that time she'd begun to notice at twilight a curious glisten to the air. Often she found herself in the doorway of her house, or outside—not remembering how she'd gotten there. For long minutes she stared seeing how, as colors faded, the glassy light emerged from both the sky and from the Scotch pines surrounding the house. It did not seem to her a natural light and in weak moments she thought This is the crossing-over time. She stared not certain what she might be seeing. She felt aroused, vigilant. She felt apprehension. She wondered if the strange glisten to the air had always been there but in her previous, protected life she hadn't noticed it.
This October evening, before the sun had entirely set, headlights turned into the driveway, some distance away at the road. She was startled into wakefulness—at first not sure where she was. Then she realized, Anton Kruppe was dropping by to see her at about this time.
Dropping by he'd said. Or maybe she'd said Why don't you drop by.
She couldn't see his face distinctly. He did appear to be driving a pickup truck with indistinct white letters on its side. Out of the driver's seat in the high cab of the truck he climbed down and lurched toward her on the shadowy path—a tall male scarecrow figure with a misshapen Halloween pumpkin for a head.
What a shock! Hadley backed away, not knowing what she was seeing.
The grinning pumpkin-head on a man's shoulders, its leering cutout eyes not lighted from within, like a jack-o'-lantern, but dark, glassy. And the voice issuing through the grinning slash-mouth in heavily accented English:
Ma'am? Is correct address? You are—lady of the house?
She laughed, nervously. She supposed she was meant to laugh.
With grating mock-gravity the voice persevered: You are—resident here, ma'am? I am—welcome here? Yes?
It was a joke. One of Anton Kruppe's awkward jokes. He'd succeeded in frightening Hadley though probably that hadn't been his intention, probably he'd just meant to make her laugh. It was embarrassing that she'd been genuinely frightened for she had known perfectly well that Anton was coming of course. And who else but Anton Kruppe would show up like this, with a Halloween pumpkin for a head?
Hadley scarcely knew the man. She felt a stab of dismay, that she'd invited him to drop by. Impulsively she'd invited him and of course he'd said yes.
At the co-op, Anton was the most eager and courteous of workers. He was the one to joke with customers, and to laugh at his own jokes; he was boyish, vulnerable and touching; his awkward speech was itself a kind of laughter, not fully intelligible yet contagious. For all his clumsiness you could tell that he was an exceptionally intelligent man. Hadley could see that he'd gone to painstaking trouble carving the Halloween pumpkin-head: it was large, bulbous, weirdly veined and striated, twice the size of a normal man's head, with triangular eyes, triangular nose, grinning mouth studded with fang-teeth. Somehow, he'd managed to force the thing over his head—Hadley couldn't quite see how.
How ingenious, Anton! Did you—carve it yourself?
This was the sort of inane question you asked Anton Kruppe. For you had to say something, to alleviate the strain of the man's aggressive-doggy eagerness to please, to impress, to make you laugh. Hadley recalled the previous time Anton had dropped by the house to see her, which had been the first time, the previous week; the forced and protracted conversation between them when Anton hadn't seemed to know how to depart, after Hadley had served him coffee and little sandwiches made of multigrain bread; his lurching over her, his spasm of a handshake and his clumsy wet kiss on her cheek that had seemed to sting her, and to thrill her, like the brush of a bat's wings.
"Yes ma'am. You think—you will buy?"
That depends, Anton. How much…
"For you, ma'am—'no charge'!"
This forced joke, how long would it be kept up, Hadley wondered in exasperation. In middle school, boys like Anton Kruppe were snubbed by their classmates—Ha ha very funny!—but once you were an adult, how could you discourage such humor without being rude? Anton was considerably younger than Hadley, as much as ten or twelve years, though looking older than his age, as Hadley looked younger than her age; he'd been born in what was now called Bosnia, brought to the United States by a surviving grandparent, he'd gone to American schools including MIT yet had not become convincingly American in all those years.
Trying too hard, Hadley thought. The sign of the foreign-born.
In a kind of anxious triumph, sensing his hostess's exasperation yet determined not to acknowledge it, Anton swung the lurid pumpkin-head down from his shoulders, in his chafed-looking big-knuckled hands. Now Hadley could see that the pumpkin wasn't whole but only two-thirds of a shell—it had been gutted and carved and its back part cut away—the back of what would be, in a human skull, the cranium. So the uncanny pumpkin-head was only a kind of pumpkin-mask set on Anton's shoulders and held in place by hand. Yet so lifelike—as the scarecrow-figure lurched up the walk in her direction the face had appeared alive.
Could have sworn, the eye-sockets had glared merrily at her.
Is good? Is—surprise? 'Happy Halloween'—is right?
Was it Halloween? Hadley was sure it was not. October thirty-first wasn't for another several days.
Is for you—Hedley. To set here.
Flush-faced now and smiling in his shyly aggressive manner that was a plea for her, the rich American woman, to laugh at him, and with him; to laugh in the spontaneous way in which Americans laughed together, mysteriously bonded in their crude American humor. On his angular face and in his stiff-wiry hair that receded sharply from his forehead were bits of pumpkin-flesh and seeds at which Anton wiped, surreptitiously, like a boy whose nose is running, wiping at his nose. Hadley thought If he kisses me he will smell of pumpkin.
Her husband had died and abandoned her. Now, other men would drop by the house.
Anton presented Hadley with the misshapen pumpkin. The damned thing must have weighed fifteen pounds. Almost, it slipped from her hands. Hadley thought it would have served Anton Kruppe right if she'd dropped the pumpkin and it smashed on the brick. No doubt, he'd have offered to clean it up, then.
Anton, thank you! This is very…
Their hands brushed together. Anton was standing close beside her. He was several inches taller than Hadley though his posture was slouched, his back prematurely rounded. Perhaps there was something wrong with his spine. And he breathed quickly, audibly—as if he'd been running. As if he were about to declare something—then thought better of it.
At the organic food and gardening co-op where Hadley had once shopped frequently, when she'd prepared elaborate meals for herself and her husband, and now only shopped from time to time, tall lanky Anton Kruppe had appeared perhaps a year ago. He'd always been alert and attentive to her—the co-op manager addressed her as Mrs. Schelle. Since late March in her trance of self-absorption that was like a narcotic to her—in fact, to get through the worst of her insomniac nights Hadley had to take sleeping pills which left her dazed and groggy through much of the day—she'd scarcely been aware of Anton Kruppe except as a helpful and persistent presence, a worker who seemed always to be waiting on her. It was just recently that he'd dared to be more direct: asking if he might see her. Asking if he might drop by her house after the co-op closed one evening, to bring her several bags of peat moss that were too heavy and cumbersome for Hadley to remove from the trunk of her car by herself. He'd offered to spread the peat moss wherever she wanted it spread.
Hadley had hesitated before saying yes. It was true, she was attracted to Anton Kruppe, to a degree. He reminded her of foreign-born classmates in her school, in north Philadelphia; pasty-faced skinny boys with round eyeglasses, tortured ways of speaking as if their tongues were malformed. Hadley had been attracted to them, but she'd never befriended them. Not even the lonely girls had she befriended. And now in weak moments she was grateful for anyone who was kind to her; since her husband's premature death she'd felt eviscerated, worthless. There is not one person to whom you matter, now. This is the crossing-over. For long entranced minutes like one in a hypnotic state she found herself listening to a voice not her own yet couched in the cadences of her own most intimate speech. This voice did not accuse her nor did the voice pass judgment on her yet she knew herself judged, contemptible. Not one person. This is the crossing-over.
She had signed the paper for her husband's cremation. In her memory distorted and blurred by tears as if undersea her own name had been printed on the contract, beside her husband's name. Signing for him, she'd signed for herself as well. It was finished for her, all that was over—the life of the emotions, the ability to feel.
Yet with another part of her mind Hadley remained alert, prudent. She was not an adventurous woman, still less was she reckless. She had been married to one man for nearly twenty years, she was childless and had virtually no family. She had a circle of friends in whom she confided sparingly—often, it was her closest friends whom she avoided, since March. Never would she have consented to a stranger dropping by her house except she'd learned that Anton Kruppe was a post-doc fellow in the prestigious Molecular Biology Institute; he had a Ph.D. from MIT and he'd taught at Cal Tech; his area of specialization was microbial genetics. She'd seen him at a string quartet recital on campus, once. Another time, walking along the canal towpath, alone. Wearing earphones, head sharply bowed, his mouth working as if he were arguing with someone and so lost in concentration his gaze drifted over Hadley unseeing—his favored co-op customer in cable-knit sweater, wool slacks and boots, a cap pulled low over her head, invisible to him.
She'd liked it that Anton Kruppe hadn't noticed her, at that moment. That she could observe the young man without his observing her. Thinking He's a scientist. He won't see anything that isn't crucial for him to see.
Now, in her house, Hadley felt a frisson of power over her awkward visitor. He could not have been more than twenty-nine—Hadley was thirty-nine. She was certain that Anton hadn't known her husband or even that she'd had a husband, who had died. (Hadley still wore her engagement and wedding ring of course.) Her power, she thought, lay in her essential indifference to the man, to his very maleness: his sexuality clumsy as an odd-sized package he was obliged to carry, to proffer to strangers like herself. He had the malnourished look of one who has been rebuffed many times yet remains determined. There are men of surpassing ugliness with whom women fall in love in the mysterious way of women but Anton Kruppe didn't possess anything like a charismatic ugliness; his maleness was of another species altogether. Thinking of this, Hadley felt a swell of elation. If he kisses me tonight he will smell of—garbage.
Hadley was smiling. She saw how Anton stared at her, as if her smile was for him.
She thanked him for the pumpkin another time. Her voice was warm, welcoming. What an original gift it was, and so cleverly carved.
Anton's face glowed with pleasure. W-Wait, Hedley!—there is more.
Hedley he called her. At the co-op, Mrs. Schelle with an emphasis on the final e. Hadley felt no impulse to correct him.
With boyish enthusiasm Anton seized Hadley's hand—her fingers must have been icy, unresponsive—and pulled her with him out to the driveway. In the rear of the pickup was a large pot of what appeared to be cream-colored chrysanthemums, past their prime, and a long narrow cardboard box of produce—gnarly carrots with foot-long untrimmed greens, misshapen peppers and pears, bruised MacIntosh apples the co-op couldn't sell even at reduced prices. And a loaf of multigrain bread that, Anton insisted, had been baked only that morning but hadn't sold and so would be labeled day-old the next morning. In this country there is much ignorant prejudice of 'day-old'—everything has to be 'new'—'perfect shape'—it is a mystery to me why if to 6 P.M. when the co-op closes this bread is good to sell but tomorrow by 8:30 A.M. when the co-op opens—it is 'old.' In the place where we come from, my family and neighbors… Moral vehemence thickened Anton's accent, his breath came ever more audibly.
Hadley would have liked to ask Anton more about his background.
He'd lived through a nightmare, she knew. Ethnic cleansing. Genocide. Yet, she felt uneasy in his presence. Very likely, it had been a mistake to have invited the eccentric young molecular biologist to drop by her house a second time; she didn't want to mislead him. She was a widow who had caused her husband to be burnt to ashes and was unrepentant, unpunished. Since March declining invitations from friends who had known her and her husband for years. Impatient with their solicitude, their concern for her who did not deserve such concern. I'm sorry! I don't want to go out. I don't want to leave the house. I'm very tired. I don't sleep any longer. I go to bed and can't sleep and at 1 A.M. I will take a sleeping pill. At 4 A.M. I will take another. Forget me! I am something that is finished.
Thinking now that possibly she didn't have to invite her awkward visitor into the house, a second time; maybe Anton wouldn't notice her rudeness—wouldn't know enough to interpret it as rudeness. He'd set the mums and the box with the produce onto a white wrought-iron bench near Hadley's front walk and was now leading Hardley around the side of the large sprawling stone-and-timber house as he'd done previously, as if he'd been summoned for this purpose. He'd boasted to Hadley of being Mister Fix-It —he was the Mister Fix-It of his lab at the Institute—his quick, critical eye took in the broken flagstones in the terrace behind Hadley's house which he'd repair — replace —for her, on another visit; with the scrutiny of a professional mason he stooped to examine corroding mortar at the base of the back wall of the house; he examined the warped and lopsided garden gate which he managed to fix with a deft motion of his hands— Now! It is good as 'new'—eh? —laughing as if he'd said something unexpectedly witty. Hadley was grateful that Anton had made no mention of the alarming profusion of weeds amid a lush tangle of black-eyed Susans, Russian sage and morning glory vines in her husband's garden that had not been cultivated this year but allowed to grow wild.
Thank you, Anton! Truly you are—'Mister Fix-It.'
Hadley spoke with more warmth than she'd intended. It was her social manner—bright, a little blurred, insincere and animated.
There was something admirable—unless there was something daunting, aggressive—about her visitor's energy—that brimmed and thrummed like rising yeast. Hadley would have supposed that after a day presumably spent at the molecular biology lab—work-weeks in such labs could run beyond one hundred hours during crucial experiments—and several hours at the co-op Anton would have been dazed with exhaustion; yet there he was, tireless in his inspection of the exterior of Hadley's house—inspecting windows, locks, dragging aside broken limbs and storm debris. You'd think that Anton Kruppe was an old friend of the family for whom the discovery that one of the floodlights on Hadley's garage had burnt out was something of a coup, arousing him to immediate action— You have a bulb to replace—yes? And a ladder with 'steps'—'step-ladder'—? I will put in—now—before it is too dark.
So adamant, Hadley had no choice but to give in.
And no choice except to invite Anton Kruppe inside, for just a while.
Politely and with regret explaining that she had a dinner engagement, later that evening. But would he come inside, for a drink?
Hedley yes thank you! I would like—yes so much.
Stammering with gratitude Anton scraped his hiking boots against the welcome mat. The soles were muddy and stuck with leaves. Though Hadley insisted it wasn't necessary Anton removed the boots with a grunt and left them on the front step carefully placed side by side. What large boots they were, like a horse's hooves! The sodden shoelaces trailed out—left, right—in perfect symmetry.
Inside, most of the downstairs rooms were dark. Now it was late October night came quickly. Pleasantly excited, a little nervous, Hadley went about switching on lights. There was a curious intimacy between her and Anton Kruppe, in this matter of switching on lights. Hadley heard her voice warmly uplifted—no idea what she was saying—as her tall lanky guest in his stocking feet—soiled-looking gray wool socks—came to stand at the threshold of the living room—stared into the interior of the long beautifully furnished living room with a shoulder-high stone fireplace at its farther end, book-filled shelves, Chinese carpets on a gleaming hardwood floor. Above the fireplace was a six-by-eight impressionist New England landscape of gorgeous pastel colors that drew the eye to it, as in a vortex.
Excitedly Anton Kruppe asked—was the painting by Cezanne?
'Cezanne'! Hardly.
Hadley laughed, the question was so naïve. Except for surreal pastel colors and a high degree of abstraction in the rendering of massed tree trunks and foliage, there was little in the Wolf Kahn canvas to suggest the earlier, great artist.
Outside, while Anton changed the floodlight, Hadley had been thinking I will offer him coffee. That's enough for tonight. But now that they were out of the October chill and inside the warm house it was a drink—wine—she offered him: a glass of dark red Catena wine, from a bottle originally purchased by her husband. Anton thanked her profusely calling her Hedley —a flush of pleasure rose into his odd, angular face. In his wiry hair that was the color of ditch water a small pumpkin seed shone.
Hadley poured herself a half-glass of wine. Her hand shook just slightly. She thought If I don't offer him a second glass. If I don't ask him to stay.
Since there was an opened jar of Brazilian nuts on the sideboard, Hadley offered these to Anton, too. A cascade of nuts into a blue-ceramic bowl.
Gratefully Anton drank, and Anton ate. Thirstily, hungrily. Drifting about Hadley's living room peering at her bookshelves, in his gray wool socks. Excitedly he talked—he had so much to say!—reminding Hadley of a chattering bird—a large endearingly gawky bird like an ostrich—long-legged, long-necked, with a beaky face, quick-darting inquisitive eyes. So sharply his hair receded from his forehead, it resembled some sort of garden implement—a hand trowel?—and his upper body, now he'd removed his nylon parka, was bony, concave. Hadley thought He would be waxy-pale, beneath. A hairless chest. A little potbelly, and spindly legs.
Hadley laughed. Already she'd drunk half her glass of wine. A warm sensation suffused her throat and in the region of her heart.
Politely Hadley tried to listen—to concentrate—as her eccentric guest chattered rapidly and nervously and with an air of schoolboy enthusiasm. How annoying Anton was! Like many shy people once he began talking he seemed not to know how to stop; he lacked the social sleight of hand of changing the subject; he had no idea how to engage another in conversation. Like a runaway vehicle down a hill he plunged on, head-on, heedless. And yet, there was undeniably something attractive about him.
More incensed now, impassioned—though he seemed to be joking, too—speaking of American politics, American pop culture, American fundamentist ignorance about stem-cell research. And how ignorant, more than ninety percent of Americans believed in God—and in the devil.
Hadley frowned at this. Ninety percent? Was this so? It didn't seem plausible that as many people would believe in the devil, as believed in God.
Yes, yes! To believe in the Christian God is to believe in His enemy—the devil. That is known.
With his newfound vehemence Anton drained his glass of the dark red Catena wine and bluntly asked of his hostess if he might have more?—helping himself at the sideboard to a second, full glass and scooping up another handful of the Brazilian nuts. Hadley wondered if he meant to be rude—or simply didn't know better. I can't really think, she persisted, that as many Americans believe in the devil, as believe in God. I'm sure that isn't so. Americans are—we are—a tolerant nation…
How smug this sounded. Hadley paused not knowing what she meant to say. The feral-dark wine had gone quickly to her head.
With a snort of derision Anton said, 'A tolerant nation'—is it? Such 'tolerance' as swallows up and what it cannot, it makes of an enemy.
'Enemy'? What do you mean?
"It makes of war. First is declared the enemy, then the war."
Anton laughed harshly, baring his teeth. Chunky yellow teeth they were, and the gums pale-pink. Seeing how Hadley stared at him he said, in a voice heavy with sarcasm, First there is the 'tolerance'—then, the 'pre-empt strike.'
Hadley's face flushed with the heat of indignation. This was insulting—it had to be deliberate—Anton Kruppe who'd lived in the United States for much of his life knew very well the history of the Iraq War, how Americans were misled, deceived by the Republican leadership. Of course he knew. She opened her mouth to protest bitterly then thought better of it.
Surreptitiously she glanced at her wristwatch. Only 6:48 P.M.! Her guest had been inside the house less than a half hour but the strain of his visit was such, it seemed much longer.
Still Anton was prowling about, staring. Artifacts from trips Hadley and her husband had taken, over the years—Indonesian pottery, African masks, urns, wall hangings, Chinese wall scrolls and watercolors, beautifully carved wooden figures from Bali. A wall of brightly colored primitive paintings from Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala. Yet more, the books on Hadley's shelves seemed to intrigue Anton, as if these hundreds of titles acquired years ago, if not decades ago, mostly by Hadley's husband who'd earned both a Ph.D. in European history and a law degree from Columbia University, possessed an immediate, singular significance and were not rather relics of a lost and irretrievable private past.
You have read all these, Hedley—yes?
Hadley laughed, embarrassed. No, she had not.
Then—someone else? All these?
Hadley laughed again, uncertain. Was Anton Kruppe mocking her? She felt a slight repugnance for the man, who peered at her, as at her art-objects and bookshelves, with an almost hostile intensity; yet she could not help it, so American was her nature, so female, she was anxious that he should like her, and admire her—if that could be settled, she would send him away, in triumph.
Remembering the foreign-born children at her schools. In middle school they had seemed pitiful, objects of sympathy, charity, and condescension, if not derision; in high school, overnight it seemed they'd become A-students, star athletes. A drivenness to them, the complacent Americans had mistaken initially as weakness.
In soiled wool socks Anton continued to prowl about. Hadley had not invited him to explore her house—had she? His manner was more childlike than aggressive. Hadley supposed that Anton's own living quarters in university-owned housing were minimal, cramped. A row of subsidized faculty housing along the river… Ah! This is—'solar-room'? They were in a glass-walled room at the rear of the stone house, that had been added to the house by Hadley and her husband; the solarium, intended to be sun-warmed, was furnished with white wicker furniture, chintz pillows and a white wrought-iron table and chairs as in an outdoor setting. But now the room was darkened and shadowed and the bright festive chintz colors were undistinguishable. Only through the vertical glass panels shone a faint crescent moon, entangled in the tops of tall pines. Anton was admiring yet faintly sneering, taunting:
Such a beautiful house—it is old, is it?—so big, for one person. You are so very lucky, Hedley. You know this, yes?
Lucky! Hadley smiled, confused. She tried to see this.
Yes, I think so. I mean—yes.
So many houses in this 'village' as it is called—they are so big. For so few people. On each acre of land, it may be one person—the demographics would show. Yes?
Hadley wasn't sure what Anton Kruppe was saying. A brash sort of merriment shone in his eyes, widened behind the smudged lenses of his wire-rimmed schoolboy glasses.
He asked Hadley how long she'd lived in the house and when she told him since 1988, when she and her husband had moved here, he'd continued smiling, a pained fixed smile, but did not ask about her husband. He must know, then. Someone at the co-op has told him.
Bluntly Anton said, Yes, it is 'luck'—America is the land of 'opportunity'—all that is deserved, is not always granted.
But it wasn't 'luck'—my husband worked. What we have, he'd earned.
And you, Hedley? You have 'earned'—also?
I—I—I don't take anything for granted. Not any longer.
What sort of reply this was, a stammered resentful rush of words, Hadley had no clear idea. She was uneasy, Anton peered at her closely. It was as if the molecular biologist was trying to determine the meaning of her words by staring at her. A kind of perverse echolocation—was that the word?—the radar-way of bats tossing high-pitched beeps of sound at one another. Except Anton was staring, his desire for the rich American woman came to him through the eyes…Hadley saw that the pumpkin seed—unless it was a second seed, or a bit of pumpkin-gristle—glistened in his wiry hair, that looked as if it needed shampooing and would be coarse to the touch. Except she could not risk the intimacy, she felt a reckless impulse to pluck it out.
He would misunderstand. He is such a fool, he would misinterpret.
But if I wanted a lover. A lover for whom I felt no love.
As if Anton had heard these words, his mood changed suddenly. His smile became startled, pained—he was a man for whom pained smiles would have to do. Asking Hadley if there were more repairs for Mister Fix-It in her house and Hadley said quickly, No. No more.
Your basement—furnace—that, I could check. I am trained—you smile, Hedley, but it is so. To support myself in school—
Hadley was sure she wasn't smiling. More firmly she thanked Anton and told him she had to leave soon— I'm meeting friends for dinner in town.
Clearly this was a lie. Hadley could lie only flatly, brazenly. Her voice quavered, she felt his eyes fixed upon her.
Anton took a step closer. I would come back another day, if needed. I would be happy to do this, Hedley. You know this—I am your friend Anton—yes?
No. I mean—yes. Some other time, maybe.
Hadley meant to lead her awkward guest back out into the living room, into the lighted gallery and foyer near the front door. He followed in her wake muttering to himself—unless he was talking to Hadley, and meant her to hear—to laugh—for it seemed that Anton was laughing, under his breath. His mood was mercurial—as if he'd been hurt, in the midst of having been roused to indignation. He'd drained his second glass of wine and his movements had become jerky, uncoordinated like those of a partially come-to-life scarecrow.
It was then that Anton began to confide in Hadley, in a lowered and agitated voice: the head of his laboratory at the Institute had cheated him—he'd taken discoveries of Anton Kruppe to claim for his own—he'd published a paper in which Anton was cited merely in a list of graduate assistants—and now, when Anton protested, he was exiling Anton from the lab—he refused to speak to Anton at the Institute and had banished him and so Anton had gone to the university president—demanding to be allowed to speak to the president but of course he'd been turned away—came back next morning hoping to speak with the president and when he was told no, demanding then to speak with the provost—and the university attorney—their offices were near-together in the administration building—all of them were in conspiracy together, with the head of the Institute and the head of Anton's laboratory—he knew this!—of course, he was not such a fool, to not know this—he'd become excited and someone called security—campus police arrived and led Anton away protesting—they had threatened to turn him over to township police—to be arrested for trespassing — threatening bodily harm —Anton had been terrified he'd be deported by Homeland Security—he had not yet an American citizenship—
You are smiling, Hedley? What is the joke?
Smiling? During this long breathless disjointed speech Hadley had been staring at Anton Kruppe in astonishment.
"It is amusing to you—yes? That all my work, my effort—I am most hardworking in the lab, our supervisor exploits my good nature—he was always saying 'Anton is the stoic among us'—what this means, this flattery of Americans, is how you can be used. To be used—that is our purpose, to the Institute. But you must not indicate, that you are in the know. Anton spoke like one whose grievances are so much in excess of his ability to express them, he might have been the bearer of an ancient, racial burden. And now—after three years—when my findings are cheated from me and I am of no more use—it is time to toss away into the 'Dumpster'—that is good word, good joke, eh?—'Dumpster'—very good American joke—the Institute is saying my contract will not be renewed, for the federal grant is ended. And my supervisor had not ever gotten around to aiding me with my citizenship application, years it has been, of course I have been dialtory myself—I have been working so hard in the lab—yesterday morning it was, the decision came to me by e-mail…You—you must not smile, Hedley! That is very—selfish. That is very selfish and very cruel."
The indignant man loomed over Hadley. His angular face wasn't so soft now but hardened with strain. His jaws were clenched like muscles. The trowel-shaped triangle of hair at his hairline was more pronounced and a sweaty-garbagey smell wafted from his heated body. Behind the smudged schoolboy lenses his eyes were deep-socketed, wary. Hadley said nervously, Maybe you should leave, Anton. I'm expecting friends. I mean…they're stopping by, to take me with them. To dinner in town…
Hadley didn't want her agitated visitor to sense how frightened she was of him. Her mistake was in turning away to lead him to the door. Insulting him. His arm looped around her neck, in an instant they were struggling off balance, he caught at her, and kissed her—kissed and bit at her lips, like a suddenly ravenous rodent—both their wineglasses went flying, clattering to the floor— You like this, Hedley! This, you want. For this, you asked me.
He overcame her. She was fighting him, whimpering and trying to scream, trying to draw breath to scream but he'd pushed her down, horribly she was on the floor, pushed down helpless and panicked on the floor of her own house, in terror thinking that Anton was trying to strangle her, then it seemed that he was kissing her, or trying to—in panic she jammed her elbows into his chest, his ribs—his mouth came over hers again—his mouth was wet and ravenous and his teeth closed over her lip, in terror she thought that he would bite off her lip, in a kind of manic elation he was murmuring what sounded like You like me! You want this! Grunting with effort he straddled her, his face was flushed with emotion, fury; he brought his knee up between her legs, roughly; their struggle had become purely physical, and desperate, enacted now in near-silence except for their panting breaths. Hadley had no idea what she was doing moving her head from side to side trying to avoid the man's mouth, his sharp yellow teeth, the smell of his agitated breath, the mouth was like that of a great sea leech sucking at her, sucking at her tongue, the back of her head was being struck against the hardwood floor Oh!—oh—oh as if he wanted to crack her skull, his fingers were poking and jabbing at her between her legs, in a paroxysm of desperation Hadley managed to squirm out from beneath him, like a panicked animal crawling on hands and knees and almost in that instant she believed that she might escape Anton Kruppe except he had only to lunge after her, seize her ankle in his strong fingers, laughing and climbing over her straddling her again more forcibly this time closing his fingers around her neck so now she knew she could not escape, she knew it was certain, she would die. In a choked voice Anton was saying, You—want me here! You asked for this. You have no right to laugh at me. You and your 'trustee' husband… In the confusion of the moment Hadley had no idea what Anton was saying. Trustee? Her husband had served on an advisory board for the history department at the university, he'd had no association with the molecular biology institute. She could not have explained this, she had not the strength, or the breath; she felt her assailant's fingers now poking inside her, she cried out in pain and kicked at him squirming beneath him like a creature desperate to escape a predator yet she had time to think almost calmly This can't be happening. This is wrong. She seemed to see herself in that instant with a strange stillness and detachment as frequently through her marriage when she'd lain with her husband and made love with her husband and her mind had slipped free and all that was physical, visceral, immediate and not-to-be-halted happening to her was at a little distance, though now tasting the wine on Anton's tongue, the dark-sour-feral wine taste of a man's mouth like her own, he'd lost patience now and was jamming at her with two fingers, three fingers forced up inside the soft flesh between her legs which Hadley knew was loathed by the man, he was furious with her there, disgusted with her there, his hatred was pure and fiery for her there as she begged him Please don't hurt me Anton, I want to be your friend Anton I will help you. It wasn't wine she was tasting but blood—he'd bitten her upper lip—on his feet now looming over her—his work-trousers unzipped, disheveled—his shirt loose, blood-splattered—he'd managed to get to his feet disengaging himself from her—their tangle of limbs, torn clothing, tears, saliva—he staggered away to the front door—stiff-legged as a scarecrow come partway to life—and was gone.
She lay very still. Where he'd left her, she lay with a pounding heart, bathed in sweat and the smell of him, her brain stuck blank, oblivious of her surroundings until after several minutes—it may have been as many as ten or fifteen minutes—she realized that she was alone. It had not quite happened to her as she'd believed it would happen, the crossing-over.
She managed to get to her feet. She was dazed, sobbing. Some time was required, that she could stand without swaying. Leaning against a chair in the hall, touching the walls. In the opened doorway she stood, staring outside. The front walk was dimly illuminated by a crescent moon overhead. Here was a meager light, a near-to-fading light. She saw that the pumpkin-head had fallen from the step, or had been kicked. On its side it was revealed to be part-shattered, you could see that the back of the cranium was missing. Brains had been scooped out but negligently so that seeds remained, bits of pumpkin-gristle. She stepped outside. Her clothing was torn. Her clothing that was both expensive and tasteful had been torn and was splattered with blood. She wiped at her mouth, that was bleeding. She would run back into the house, she would dial 911. She would report an assault. She would summon help. For badly she required help, she knew that Anton Kruppe would return. Certainly he would return. On the front walk she stood staring toward the road. What she could see of the road in the darkness. On the roadway there were headlights. An unmoving vehicle. It was very dark, a winter-dark had come upon them. She called out, Hello? Hello? Who is it? Headlights on the roadway, where his vehicle was parked.
THE STORY OF THE STABBING
Four years old she'd begun to hear in fragments and patches like handfuls of torn clouds the story of the stabbing in Manhattan that was initially her mother's story.
That morning in March 1980 when Mrs. Karr drove to New York City alone. Took the New Jersey Turnpike to the Holland Tunnel exit, entered lower Manhattan and crossed Hudson and Greenwich Streets and at West Street turned north, her usual route when she visited an aunt who lived in a fortress-like building resembling a granite pueblo dwelling on West Twenty-seventh Street—but just


text:
Q: Pandas Sqlite read_sql_query (Too many columns) I have a dataset with 566 000 rows and 25 000 columns. I would like quickly reading sections of it with the sqlite3 python package. All the information I find is about how to do this with a few  columns.
import sqlite3
import pandas as pd

# Create a new database file:
db = sqlite3.connect("db.sqlite")
# Load the CSV in chunks:
for c in pd.read_csv("dataframe.csv", # usecols = ['id_col'],
               chunksize=1000):
    # Append all rows to a new database table, which we name 'voters':
    c.to_sql('db', db, if_exists="append")

# Add an index on 'id_col':
db.execute("CREATE INDEX id_col ON db(id_col)")
db.close()

Running this gives this error:

sqlite3.OperationalError: too many columns on HumanProtAtlas_scRNA

Running it with the commented out parameter usecols = ['id_col'] is successful and creates an indexed SQL table that can be read with the following:

def read_filtered_df(id):
    conn = sqlite3.connect("db.sqlite")
    q = f"SELECT * FROM db WHERE id_col = '{id}'"    #
    return pd.read_sql_query(q, conn)

The subsetting according to the desired id is correct. However, the read dataframe only contains the cl_id column and not the other 25k columns. Is there a way of using this index to read the original dataframe? Or of including all columns in the indexed sql table?
Kind regards,

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Edmund's dev blog for gay nerds: GDC FTW!
Im recouping from GDC... im in love with my peers and motivated by the industry as a whole!
I had a great time and especially loved my intimate interactions with my new fav indie devs, Reagen, Daniel, Petri, Cactus and Anna. you guys have refilled my faith in the indie scene.
Danielle took like 200 photos of the event.. here are some.
Daphne got people to wear diapers and i held them like babies.
i also have a series of indie closeups as well..
Those abs can't be real, right? Just goddamn!
Hey! you met Kojima! that's pretty awesome man. Glad you had a good time and had your faith renewed. I was worried after I watched the IGF awards, not because you didn't win, but because of the horrendous joke the guy made right before your category.
This is an amazing blog post found here.... Keep posting such an interesting information. Thanks!


Having a good relationship with yourself improves your relationships with others. Conway compared it to the safety instructions on airplanes: Put on your oxygen mask before putting it on anyone... 30/10/2015�� On-again/off-again relationships generally have a pretty bad reputation. And actually, science tends to back up what everyone's cranky best friend is muttering to them.
5 Ways to End a Bad Relationship for Good Expert advice on moving on, and convincing yourself that it's right. Posted Mar 12, 2013... 3. Look for Indicators of Shared Humanity. At our core, we are all the same. When I feel anxious about being in a relationship or conversation with people who appear �perfect� or are very accomplished, I remind myself that at our core, we are all the same.
When we close it to one, we close it to all. Without vulnerability, relationships struggle. Vulnerability is, �Here I am � my frayed edges, my secrets, my fears, my affection.
We are a non-profit organisation that provides a range of family and relationships services including counselling, mediation, dispute resolution and education. Our services are for everyone regardless of age, race and gender.
I would advise you to definitely do some research about narcissism and relationships, I think it will help you get over what you went through and at least find some understanding and maybe avoid relationships like that in the future.


text:
Q: multiple graphs pdf R I would like to print multiple graphs in one pdf file.  I know there has been a lot on this, but I would like to print different window/graph sizes for each page, i.e. first page a 8.5x11, second page 11x8.5 and so on.  I tried this:
pdf(file="Combined_Graphs.pdf",onefile=TRUE,bg="white",width=8.5,height=11)
hist(rnorm(100))
pdf(file="Combined_Graphs.pdf",onefile=TRUE,width=11, height=8.5, bg="white")
hist(rnorm(100,10,2),col="blue")
dev.off()

I must be using onefile=TRUE wrong as it only generates the last graphic before closing.  Is there a better way to size the graphic device without having to call the pdf function twice?

A: What I would do is produce seperate PDF's and them combine them later. I use the PDF toolkit for this. Wrapping this in an R function using a system call through system even makes it scriptable from R. The call to pdftk will look something like:
pdftk *pdf cat output combined.pdf

or in R:
system("pdftk *pdf cat output combined.pdf")

combine_pdfs = function(path, output_pdf) {
  system(sprintf("pdftk %s/*pdf cat output %s"), path, output_pdf)
}

A: I think what you are trying to do cannot be done in R, i.e., you need to use external tools such as the PDF toolkit as suggested by Paul Hiemstra to combine separate PDF files with varying page dimensions (an alternative tool is PDFjam).
If you set onefile = TRUE in your call to pdf(), each plot that is written to that PDF device will be printed on a separate page, yet with the same page dimensions. In your example, you open a first PDF device, write one plot to it, then you open a second PDF device, write a different plot to it, and then close the second PDF device but leave the first PDF device open. Since you use the same file argument for both pdf() calls, you might not notice that the first PDF device is still open. If you closed it, only the first plot would end up in "Combined_Graphs.pdf".
Here is a modified version of your example that illustrates how PDF devices are opened, filled with content, and closed:
pdf(file = "foo.pdf", onefile = TRUE, width = 8.5, height = 11)
hist(rnorm(100))
hist(rnorm(100, 10, 2), col = "red")
pdf(file = "bar.pdf", width =11, height = 8.5)
hist(rnorm(100, 10, 2), col = "blue")
dev.off()
dev.off()


Michael Parekh is an Analyst for the Goldman Sachs with two videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 2000 Forum. Most appearances with Peter D. Hart (2), Jan Laverty Jones (2), Max Fose (2). Most common tag: Online Technology.


President Buhari has declared a state of emergency on the nation's water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector. He explained that the declaration became imperative to reduce the high-prevalence of water-borne diseases in different parts of the country, which has caused preventable deaths.
The President stated this while inaugurating the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector at State House Conference Centre in Abuja today where he directed government at all levels to redouble efforts and work towards meeting the nation's water supply and sanitation needs.
President Buhari said, "the Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) targets (6.1 & 6.2) for WASH are even more demanding as they require WASH services to be provided in adequate quantity and quality on premises at affordable prices. This cannot be achieved if we continue with 'a business as usual' approach. It is on this premise that I fully endorse the decision taken at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council in April this year to declare 'a State of Emergency on our WASH Sector".
President Buhari said statistics on open defecation, access to piped water services and sanitation in the country was disturbing. He, however, warned that henceforth, the Federal Government support to state governments would be based on their commitment to implement the National WASH Action Plan in their respective states and to end open defecation by 2025. "Access to piped water services which was 32 per cent in 1990 has declined to seven per cent in 2015; access to improved sanitation has also decreased from 38 per cent in 1990 to 29 per cent in 2015," the President was quoted as saying in a statement by his media adviser, Femi Adesina.


text:
Family confirms death of Chewbacca actor
By Sonia Rao (c) 2019, The Washington Post
May 3, 2019 at 9:35 AM May 3, 2019 at 9:36 AM
Peter Mayhew, known to audiences worldwide for playing Chewbacca in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, has died, his family confirmed Thursday evening. He was 74 years old.
The actor "put his heart and soul into the role of Chewbacca and it showed in every frame of the films from his knock kneed running, firing his bowcaster from the hip, his bright blue eyes, down to each subtle movement of his head and mouth," Mayhew's family wrote in a tweeted statement. "But, to him, the Star Wars family meant so much more to him than a role in a film."
The family did not specify a cause of death.
Chewie is a beloved creature in the Star Wars universe, easily recognizable by his massive stature, guttural wail and partnership with Han Solo, the intergalactic pilot played by Harrison Ford. Mayhew reprised the role in 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" and 2015's "The Force Awakens," expanding his reach to generations of Star Wars fans. He also consulted on 2017's "The Last Jedi," the most recent installment of the Skywalker franchise, to show successor Joonas Suotamo the ropes.
Shortly after the casting news, Suotamo wrote in a statement that Mayhew's "development and portrayal of this beloved Wookie has spread so much joy around the globe. Peter's guidance and kindness have been invaluable gifts which warmed my spirit and prepared me for this journey."
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas is said to have discovered Mayhew while the latter worked as an orderly in the King's College Hospital's radiology department. Standing tall at 7-foot-3, Mayhew was reportedly told that to be cast as the Wookie, all he had to do was stand up. The actor didn't take on too many roles outside of the Star Wars universe and, as his family noted in the statement, spent much of his later years pursuing philanthropic work, including his own charitable foundation.
"As (Mayhew) grew older he continued to 'soldier on' as he put it and was completely in his element around his fans and supporters," the statement continues. "He grew great strength from the energy of his family, friends and the fans he knew and loved."


text:
Boventoon en een speelwijze op een snaar- of blaasinstrument waarbij alleen van boventonen gebruik wordt gemaakt,   zie Flageolet (speelwijze).
Een soort fluit, zie Flageolet (fluit)
Een soort peulvrucht, Flageolet (peulvrucht)


The Sylvan Beach website says the swimming area was closed last week due to a blue-green algae.
The Oneida County Health Department is testing the water each day to see when the beach area can once again allow swimming.
The beach area remains open while swimming is prohibited.