Into the Fog

The sun peeked out from behind grayish clouds and for that moment, I felt giddy and adventurous. "Let's go to the boardwalk!" With that quick morning greeting, I was outside in a flash, aching for a chance to feel free with hair blowing in the air. I pulled out my sunglasses at the same time my husband rolled down the windows and off we went. The sun continued to brighten until we neared Long Beach - a hazy light was visible amidst the gray sky. 

By the time we arrived on the boardwalk, an intense fog hovered, reminding me of Carl Sandburg's poem, Fog. As we made our way to a railing overlooking the beach, the ocean was not visible at all. In the many years that I have lived here, I have not seen such haziness encapsulate the sea.  A man on a bicycle came rolling by laughing and calling out to bewildered beachgoers, "If we could see, we might be able to find the ocean."  Determined, I proceeded to capture what I could or could not see through my lens, even though there were stretches of nothingness beyond the beach. 

The word, nothingness, was circling back to me.  Before leaving the house, I engaged in the #SpiritChat Sunday morning Twitter convo.  Was Kumud Ajmani's opening question meant for this boardwalk encounter?  "On Celebrating Nothing(ness)" - what does the phrase evoke/inspire within you today?"  My response seemed fitting for a coming-into-the-fog scene.  "Nothingness is a state of calm, resting in the joy of living." 

No one at the beach seemed to be concerned about the fog and they were certainly enjoying the day. Surfers were fully dressed hoisting their surfboards above their heads. Youngsters were rollerblading, others bicycling. There were even children barefoot in the sand.  A few large trucks were making their way horizontally in the sand, trying to level it out. 

into the fog

they came on

silent footsteps-

waiting for sun

This joyous spring happening on Palm Sunday gave me the inspiration to finish my one line for the annual Kidlithosphere Progressive Poem. Today, was my day to add a found line from a song.  You can see the poem in progress at my site under the title 2019 Kidlithosphere Progress Poem Continues.  

It is Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers so I am ready to add this slice. 

Traveling Through Fog

Winter has been unusually fickle this season. It has changed its course often, going from warm temperatures to cold ones and snowy scenes have come and gone. Last week, winter decided to send a walloping snowstorm to Long Island. There was so much snow that snow shovelers who often canvas the houses in the neighborhood for jobs were nowhere in sight.  So, it was up to our family with its three shovels to dig out. That we did over the course of days until a forty degree day that melted some of the snow away created snow slush. 

Thinking that we were past the long stretch of cold, we packed the car and headed to Baltimore for an out-of-town family wedding last Friday. Little did we know that we would face another strange weather pattern along the way. Torrential rains gave way to a greyish mass of dense fog that was strange in its appearance. A glowing light cast an eerie pattern across the landscape, most of which was invisible. As we crossed the Susquehanna River, the fog thickened and an interesting image formed. I recalled Carl Sandburg's poem. 

THE fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

This fog did not move on as in Sandburg's poem. It remained and enveloped the highway and then, stretched across the city of Baltimore as we entered. Happy that we were provided a beautiful hotel room overlooking the Baltimore Harbor, we were surprised that we could not see much of anything from our seventeenth floor windows. But there was a bright side to this story. The rain, fog, and extremely cold weather made us happy to stay inside and cozy up with our 6 1/2 month granbaby, Sierra. Her smile lit up the room and brought a sense of contentment, despite the strange winter weather. 

Part 1 of heart journeys is my Tuesday Slice of Life so join me as I link this post to Two Writing Teachers.