Blocking out the world

  This morning was foggy and, again this evening, it is foggy.  I am talking pea-soup thick type fogginess.  The kind that gets the brain off in a tizzy about what lies just beyond the next bend or in the next thicket.  It is the eerie sort of fog like what you read about in all horror tales..."It was a dark, foggy night when..."  Yeah, that.

  I actually did not get to the pier until almost 8am.  I was up but busy in the kitchen trying to replicate a recipe that I made up three days ago.  It was heartily approved by Son and he had the suggestion that I "write this one".  So, I experimented in the wee hours of the morn but that put me late for the sunrise...well, not really.  The "sun" tried to make an appearance but the fog was stronger.  

  This reminded me of a time when Pop and I had gone fishing about 4am one morning years ago.  I was still just a kid but, that day, I learned a lesson that would last a lifetime.  The fog was so thick that we really could not see much past the little skiff.  As he steered the small outboard motor, he told me to keep an eye on the shoreline.  "We sure do not want to get lost and wind up in the channel."  Tugboats pushing several barges would not be able to stop in time to avoid hitting a small skiff that was hidden in the fog.  I dutifully watched the shoreline and when it suddenly disappeared, I called to Pop!  "I cannot see it anymore!"  I was nervous that I had let us be put in danger.  Pop, on the other hand, was calm and used a bit of commonsense.  He dropped anchor.  Yep!  We were still in the shallows.  Whew!  So, we sat where we were and fished.  It was hours later before the sun arose and we found we were still near the shoreline.  We did, however, catch a lot of fish in that spot!

  The fog makes things appear much differently.  It blocks out the background and makes all nearby be seen in a different way.  Sights, sounds and even smells are all surreal. Trees seem to loom much larger, a simple footstep echoes through the woods and odors are much more intense.  Everything feels "close".  Walking around the marsh edge gives me the opportunity to view things as never before.  These foggy days are some of my favorites.