by foggy January
19 days of fog
few sunny periods
cold below, warm above
an air inversion* they say
fog horns, monotonal musical nights
black white and grey
moody haunting magical
inspiration for old English novels
Added Jan.25th, 2009: Listen to the fog horns in Howe Sound!
(Thanks to Chris at Bowen Island Journal)
*expired link has been removed
January 24, 2009 in Canada and BC, Home by Marja-Leena
Ah, how well I remember the fog horns from my days in Kits… But 19 days of that sound, which to me seemed to be saying “go to sleep,” would make me think less of the magic of old English novels and more of the darker strands of that period in the fog.
It’s a vicious canard put about by the French that it’s always foggy in English literature. Frequently it rains.
A lovely silvery mist, in your picture. Dickens was the perpetrator of the fog image. See the first chapter of Bleak House. There used to be a lot of fog in London: nasty yellow stuff with visibilty limited to a few feet. But that’s a thing of the past since clean air legislation. BB is right. Rain features a lot, and some Victorian novels even smell of the damp; their pages are mottled with it, and stick together to keep warm.
Maria, actually the foghorns weren’t out every one of those 19 nights. In our area we have ‘overflow’ ships moored out there occasionally. The horns became rather irritating after a while. Do you miss Vancouver sometimes? It’s now sunny and gorgeous and I must go for a walk!
Barrett, the canard for Vancouver is that it always rains! Thanks for the new word.
Joe, I thought of Dickens and Hardy but wasn’t sure, so thank you for confirming it is Dickens. The one advantage of all those foggy days was that it did NOT rain. I love pages that stick together to keep warm.
Lovely sound! I last heard fog horns when I stayed in San Francisco in September. Glad to hear that the sun came out.
Leslee, I’m pleased you enjoyed that. I certainly enjoyed the sun today. More tomorrow and then we may have snow on Tuesday!
What a beautiful, haunting image.
Your picture is enchanting.
We’ve had so much of the foggy stuff, too. I live at the edge of a forest — and it can be very fairy-tale like when fog-shrouded, but also cold, clinging and difficult to drive in!
I wonder what February will bring? All of a sudden, it has crept up on me.
Bee, thanks. Fog is at its loveliest in the trees, isn’t it? Our foggy spell has been replaced by rainy days, a little mixed in with snow this morning – February already!