A 5 AM walk in the fog. In the dark.
Yeah, it's a little creepy, too, but once you stop remembering every Dean Koontz book you've ever read, then it's rather magical. You can feel it as it lights on your face, as the tiny foggy particles cling to your eyelashes and the moisture envelops your body as you push through something that's definitely there, but offers little resistance.
I walk with a headlamp, sort of like miners wear, instead of holding a flashlight. I like to keep my hands free to swing and to hold the three mutts' leashes who accompany me every day.
The headlamp is great, but the fog was so thick this morning that those foggy particles linked arms and threw my high beam back in my face, blinding me. Sort of like Phil Spector's famous Wall of Sound, except it was quiet and didn't come with a crazy, murderous fallen crackhead-genius.
I suppose that's good, since I was in the foggy dark.
Speaking of quiet, walking in fog provides a neato auditory experience, too. The fog muffles any echo, but adds an element of scary by making every single noise sound like it's coming from over your left shoulder.
It really keeps you on your toes.
Some foggy facts, from the Farmer's Almanac:
- The foggiest area in the United States is Point Reyes,
California. It is in the top two foggiest land areas in the world
with over 200 days of fog a year.
- There are as many types of fog as there are cloud formations in the sky.
- Not all fogs are the same. There’s
Radiation fog, Sea fog, Ground fog, Advection fog, Steam fog (also
called evaporation fog), Precipitation fog, Upslope fog, Valley
fog, Ice fog, Freezing fog and Artificial fog.
- Fog generally forms when the relative humidity reaches 100% at ground level.
- Long, cool autumn nights cause the air near the ground to chill, causing the formation of fog to be prevalent in fall.
Just keep an eye out over your left shoulder.
Best,
Dani
Here's another variety we know all too well here in NorCal: Tule (too-lee) fog. Truly "killer" fog!
ReplyDelete"Tule fog ( /ˈtuːliː/) is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California's Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms during the late fall and winter (California's rainy season) after the first significant rainfall. This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related casualties in California."
- Tracy