Lost And Found In Fog.

I know I’ve written about fog recently, but it seems to be that time of year when it’s unavoidable. What fascinates me is how much fog can change a view. As I looked out over this scene this morning I couldn’t get over how much was hidden, how much was literally lost in the fog.

008A few hours later the sun took care of that. Everything was revealed. Maybe too much was revealed.

005What I always think about whenever I see fog is how often when you’re in the midst of it you don’t realize it. The only time I’ve ever felt truly lost in fog is when I was a kid and we took a trip to Maine. One morning we drove through fog that was so dense we couldn’t see cars going in the other direction, only ghostly headlights shifting across a gray background. They must have seen us in the same way.

So too a person standing in one of those distant buildings obscured, from my perspective, by the fog could have looked in my direction. They might have seen fog where I stood. We could have been looking right at each other but unaware because all we could see was fog. There’s something revealing about that thought.

Facebook Comments

9 Comments

  1. kdcol

    As long as I’m not driving in a really thick fog, I can dig it. It rarely gets too bad where I live. I do remember once when I was in high school, a friend and I snuck out of the house in the wee hours (to meet a boy(s) or get into some other kind of trouble I’m sure) and I remember walking along the street and the fog was so thick. Obviously I thought it was pretty cool since that memory (of the fog, not the trouble) has stuck.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      It sounds like the fog was the perfect thing to hide whatever nefariousness you were up to. That’s part of the fun of fog: it’s great to hide in.

      Reply
  2. Kristine @MumRevised

    I was in Beijing for a week once and the air was so thick and sticky with smog that one day I just stayed inside and read. You could smell it coming through the triple pane windows and I had to shower to feel normal again every time I ventured outside that week. Fog I like. It is mysterious and misty like the workings of my mind. I can relate to fog. OMG! Like that so like totally didn’t sound like my usual self. Must be the fog 🙂

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      Yeah, I think the fog is revealing more than you intended. Smog on the other hand really is awful. It’s scary when the air quality in places gets that bad that you can’t even go outside.

      Reply
  3. Margot

    I grew up very close to San Francisco, so I’ve been around fog a LOT. I find it comforting as long as I’m not driving in it. What I really like is thick fog at the beach. In Northern California the ocean is too cold to swim in anyway, so it’s not like it ruins a sunny day at the shore. And hiking through giant redwood forests in the fog, too. Now I’ve gone and made myself homesick, dammit.

    So, what do you mean when you say that when the sun came out perhaps too much was revealed?

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      You’re making me long for places I’ve never seen. But I’ve heard so many wonderful things about what the Pacific Northwest is like I know I have to visit there someday. A thick fog at the beach sounds like it would provide a wonderful sense of atmosphere.
      And when I say the sun reveals too much I’m thinking partly of how the fog sort of softens the edges of everything and places a certain hush over the world, but also those cranes in the distance had been obscured by the fog. It’s great that some new things are being built up but old things are being torn down too. It’s my perpetual problem: I used to be indecisive but now I’m not sure.

      Reply
  4. Sandra

    Revealing and haunting. And while the fog surrounding your car in Maine was surrounded in mist, so it was also transparent in its lovely imagery.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I’m so glad you enjoy the imagery. One of my main goals is always to paint a picture in the minds of readers. A picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes I hope only a few words create a picture.

      Reply
  5. Ann Koplow

    Many thanks for clearing that up, Chris.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge