Fog

One of the drawbacks of living in the central San Joaquin Valley is the tule fog that engulfs us every winter from late November to early February. We even have a local race appropriately named the Tule Fog Run. Most of the fog season it never gets too bad, but the last couple of days has been unreal! I literally cannot see more than 3-4 feet in front of me, which is rather frightening, considering that when I cross streets, if I can't see that far going as slow as I do, then how can a car traveling much faster than I am, see me? Common sense forces me then to run on the local trail and canals, which makes the run really interesting.

Normally I love running on the soft surfaces of the side of the Santa Fe trail, the hard packed dirt of all the local canals and dirt farm roads between fields. However, when you can't see beyond the reach of your hand, things get a little, shall we say, spooky. One of the effects of a thick blanket of tule fog is that it muffles all the surrounding sounds and intensifies your own contribution to the audible world around you. So as I glide along in the dark gray haze of my own personal "Twilight Zone," (I expect the ghost of Rod Sterling to pop out with his cigarette at any moment!) my mind registers every little crack, thump, and muffled footstep at a 120 decibels. Thus, my heart begins to race at twice its normal speed as my brain matter tries to decipher if the thudding of the crisp dew laden leaves is from my own pedestrian effort or that of some ravenous rabid rodent?! Seriously, you should see the size of the opossums we have around here? I swear they must eat small dogs, sheep and wandering gypsy children. Therefore I fling myself into the moist sunless morning, praying that I will make it out alive. It is mornings like these that I wonder, "would it not just be better to pour another cup of coffee?" But alas, my mistress calls.

Out the door I go. As always, stay healthy, keep running, and if you see Rod Sterling, know that you have crossed over through space and time and are now in a dimension, known as, the Running Zone.