Friday, February 10, 2012

Into the Fog

When I was young the fog used to come up the river from Mankato, stopping only briefly in town to rest before it continued on to the Cities. Walking to school with my brothers and sisters we would have to cross Highway 25. The state road would drop into the valley, cross the river and climb back up again before heading west and then north.

On those damp mornings we would gaze down into the valley and imagine we were on the granite shores of Lake Superior. That’s what it looked like to us. We couldn’t see through the fog, so instead we pretended we couldn’t see across the Great Lake.

The fog obscured what was there and allowed our minds to imagine what was not or perhaps could be. Maybe that’s why fog is found so often in stories – the fog fuels our imaginations.

Walking shrouded in fog on a quiet country lane far beyond the reach of the street lights can be very peaceful when done in the morning. But the same stretch of road takes on a different feeling at night when it’s foggy. A rolling fog often precedes death in movies and books, so you have to keep your imagination on a short leash lest it run out ahead of you in search of Vincent Price and Edgar Allen Poe.

The warm days and cool nights of these past few weeks have ushered in the fog around here. The poet Carl Sandburg said, “The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.” I try and enjoy its short, infrequent visits before it lifts.

Fog comes in when the proper mix of temperature and moisture has created the right conditions. According to those unpredictable people at www.weatherquestions.com “Fog can be considered a cloud at ground level. The processes forming it, however, are usually different from those that form clouds.”

You can have your head in the clouds or you can have your head in a fog. The first describes someone who is out of touch with reality. The second tells of a person who is confused, forgetful, or unable to concentrate.

But I find that fog actually forces me to focus on the matter at hand. It’s good to have vision that lets you see in the distance, but to really concentrate it sometimes becomes necessary to shut out all distractions.

Take driving for instance. Driving in fog is especially risky. I’ve come dangerously close to missing turns and curves on a foggy night. But I suppose any activity can be dangerous if not accompanied by care and concentration (throwing knives, shooting guns, making toast, etc.).

When everything else is blocked from your view you pay attention to what you can see, what is close at hand. Otherwise the important things can be taken for granted – like taking a walk with your family.

No comments:

Post a Comment