• Ludwig van Beethoven's loss of hearing
• the rain that sets in immediately after one finishes watering the garden, following many days of putting off watering in anticipation of rain
• the eviction of a landlord from his home
• the death of an atheist killed by a falling cross

For a highly critical article in The Atlantic magazine about American naval strategy, an art director commissioned an illustration of mighty naval warships as sitting ducks. The cover signifies the irony of naval power that might not be effective in wartime.