Foggy Day

Foggy Day

Some ground was finally beginning to show through the snow on Friday after being blanketed in white for days. But then irony took over. The ground was visible but the sky was not. Heavy fog was everywhere.

We could hear birds chirping but they didn’t seem to be flying anywhere. Birds can fly in fog but prefer not to as they can become disoriented. These geese landed within the confines of a local school, the flock choosing to hunker down and take a rest until the fog lifted.

Birds are not the only ones who can get disoriented; people, too, find fog confusing. Going across the Ben Franklin Bridge to Philadelphia was an experience in caution. Where was the car ahead of us? Where were the lanes? It was hard to think we still on the bridge because we couldn’t see the cables. 

It was beautiful, in its own, soft way. All things blended. There were no hard lines to anything. The road, the buildings along the way, the people on the streets, all were fairy-like. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see someone sprout wings and take off into the clouds. Sometimes it’s nice to have that sense of fantasy to gentle a day, especially after a snow-shoveling marathon.

 

What causes fog?

 http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_causes_fog.htm

Be safe when driving in fog:

http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafety/drivingsafetytips/fog.html

Fog, Shmog

Last week there was fog. Lots of it. Neighborhood after neighborhood peeked out from behind its curtain and traffic lights emitted radiant glows as the fog cast auras around them.

Yes, I know that fog causes a decrease in visibility and can make driving dangerous. I also know that it blurs everything into a colorless mass of gray. The composition of fog is ordinary – dewy water droplets, sometimes icy crystals, hanging in the air. Fog, shmog, you say. What is the big deal about fog? It’s only a cloud, after all, that’s close to the ground.

Ah, but that is exactly the big deal. Fog says, SlowDown! Certainly for safety when driving; I don’t want to minimize the need for caution. It is more than that, though. A cloud is something mysterious. Fog tends to slow down our automatic assessment of what we normally see and perhaps our judgments of those things. It makes us pay attention, to be alert to the unexpected, sometimes for our personal safety. Yet conversely, it feeds our often-repressed inner child’s imagination. What might be hidden in the haze? A castle, perhaps, with a princess in a lofty tower. A parade marching by with the sound of its drums and excitement muffled (are those children on the sidewalk holding red and yellow balloons and cheering?). Where is that unicorn going?

Then there is the sheer beauty of a foggy day. It’s hard not to be captivated by how a fog hints at things, begging us – daring us – to fill in the blanks. Here are some captivating photos: http://www.terragalleria.com/pictures-subjects/fog/fog.9.html and some fog info as well www.crh.noaa.gov/jkl/?n=fog_types

As Carl Sandburg wrote: The fog comes on little cat feet...

Intriguing, isn't it?