Welcoming the Fog

Surprised by the warm, late November morning, I felt big water call. Before I could talk myself out of the short drive I found salt air caressing me as I stepped out of my car.

Foggy mornings at the beach with rough water are special to me. The elemental energy of water is powerful with a churning sea and water hanging heavy in the air. This time of year the beach is inhabited with more birds than humans so walking with these conditions is quite magical.

The Blue Angels could be heard above the clouds and twice, as the clouds briefly cleared, I caught short glimpses of them. Their roar left an even greater silence as they quickly passed.

Chilly Gulf water washed over my bare feet and awakened giggles. Salty air wrapped watery fingers around me and gave the feeling of containment even while gazing over open water. Great V’s of pelicans emerged from walls of fog and delighted me with their perfection of flight that was silent yet more spiritually powerful than the engines of the Blue Angels.

The sea has many moods but the one today is my favorite. The mystery of fog awakens inner curiosity and creates within me a sense of aliveness.

Here’s an excerpt from my first book, Sharks On My Fin Tips: A Wild Woman’s Adventures in Nature, published in 2008 by Grateful Steps Publishing House in Asheville, NC, about my relationship with fog.

“All was quiet as fog buffered sound around me. The dive boat slipped out of its mooring as it began the journey from the harbor to open ocean. The atmosphere was thick, white and wet. Cloaked in the ground cloud, the ocean brooded in silence. I looked into nothingness as the mist turned my eyelashes white. There was no sun, just slate-blue ocean and white-gray mist suspended over the still, cold Pacific Ocean.

“The journey took on the mood of the fog, of the quiet ocean. I used my imagination to conjure up images of what lay beyond the circle of white clouds hugging the boat. I wondered what the landscape looked like as the boat motored away from the harbor. I contemplated the shoreline, the inlets, mountains and desert.

“The heavy fog on the water was peaceful yet it created within me uneasiness. I knew there was a huge ocean around me; yet, from my perch on the boat, the size of the ocean was reduced to only a few feet. Only the chugging of the diesel engine broke the eerie quiet. From the heavy silence and white bank of thick clouds came the possibility that something big and terrible would abruptly appear and collide with us. With an imagination such as mine the possibilities were endless.” (pages 124-125)

This book is available at Amazon.com in paperback and e-book and from Grateful Steps Foundation (paperback and the best place to purchase…unless you purchase directly from me…the author!)