Saturday, January 26, 2013

Softness in the air.

We finally got up above freezing, though the inversion is still in place.

With the melting of the snow, and practically nowhere for the water vapor to go, this enhances the smog with some wicked fog.  The city has been socked in all day.

With just the smog, the air is harsh and almost hard enough to hurt if you try to run through it.  But, for some reason, with the fog in the air, it seems soft to me.  Part of that is probably the little bit of smog our ice storm on Thursday knocked out of the atmosphere.  Yet, I’ve always loved the fog, the way it quiets everything down, the cozy feeling of solitude it gives me.  I can’t see everything, so it must not be there.

I took these pictures today, because it was actually warm enough to venture out of the warm house/car longer than just to run from one to the other.

Here’s my house, in the fog.

On the freeway.  Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving while trying to focus the camera.  I take these shots just by pointing the camera out the windshield and hoping to get something decent.  Another benefit of digital cameras.

One of the entrances to the new high school that is about to be moved into.

It’s long enough that it just fades into the fog.

The front door of the high school the new one is replacing.  By this time next year it won’t be here.

My school, at night in the fog.

On the freeway again, at night.

8 comments:

Alexia said...

These are magical, Max!
I especially like the one of your house - it looks lovely. I agree with you about the softening effects of fog; we don't often get it here but I must admit I like it when we do!

Max Sartin said...

Alexia - thanks. My house turned 100 years old last year, it's a great little place, perfect for me.

We don't get fog too often here either, but there was once I got real tired of it. In 1982, or so, we had an inversion that lasted over 2 months. The pollution wasn't so bad back then, less than half as many people lived here at the time. It truly was just fog. It drove people nuts, domestic violence was up, the news kept advising people to get up into the mountains and get some sunshine. I started doing that on a weekly basis and felt much better.

Lisa Shafer said...

1982. 6 weeks of inversion and fog with temperatures rarely reaching into the double-digits. Your memory of it seems to have softened the affects -- how fitting. That was THE mother of all inversions. This thing we have now is a piddly little 3rd cousin to that one.

Great fog pics. I was out taking fog pics today and tonight as well.
What you've chosen really fits Carmi's theme. Good work. Gold star to you. :)

Max Sartin said...

No, I agree with you, it was miserable. The only thing that kept me sane was driving up the canyon once a week. I also remember driving home from Provo in fog so thick I was going 20 MPH on the freeway, afraid some moron was going to come up behind me doing 60 and not be able to stop, or swerve, in time. It was so bad I had no idea where I was for most of the drive. I could tell when I hit Point of the Mountain, going up over the hill was obvious, and I barely made out I-80. Other than that, it was so thick I couldn't even see the road signs. Yeah, that was one time fog and I didn't get along so well.

Bob Scotney said...

I'm not a lover of fog and would not have thought of taking shots in it unless I was up above it looking down. Your excellent pictures Max have made me change my mind.

Tina´s PicStory said...

nice snow pics :)

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I like taking pics out the windshield, too, Max.

"You never know what you're gonna get."

- Forrest Gump

P.S. Nice shots!
~

Lisa Shafer said...

Ooh, that would be freaky.