Fogged In and Faked Out

Fog and trees (an image by Rocco Dinato from the Internet)

Yesterday (Sunday, January 13) the forecast called for the morning fog to burn off, the skies to turn partly sunny, and the temperature to rise into the mid-60s (about 18 degrees Celsius)--not bad for mid-January.  Well, the forecasters got it all wrong; the temperature never got above 49 (9.5 C) and the fog never burned off; it was densely foggy all day and into the night.  By 3 p.m., when it was becoming clear (so to speak) that the weather was not going to change, Kali and I decided to got for a walk at a local state park with paved paths.  (The dirt trails at "my" preserve are hopelessly muddy.)

We walk at this state park very frequently - at least twice a month - and often much more frequently.  The park is sizable (1,500 acres), but it was created from a large working farm.  The state wants to demonstrate the history of agricultural use of the property to us suburban rubes, so much of the property is leased to farmers who continue to grow corn or soybeans (often employing poor management practices that lead to soil erosion).  Agriculture in other parts of the park had been abandoned, and the fields had begun to regrow - until invasive plants moved in and cloaked the vegetation with ugly, smothering blankets of vines.  The historic woodlots on the property remain in fairly decent shape, except that there are no understory plants because the white-tailed deer have eaten everything they can get their mouths around.  (To its credit, the state has initiated a deer management program in the park, with annual culls.)  In short, the place is not very scenic, but the extensive trail system is paved, which is what's important to us during inclement weather.

Trees in fog (an image by David Wagner from the Internet)

Since I got my new camera about a year ago, I've brought it with me nearly every time we've gone to the park, and only once have I ever photographed anything there (and I didn't post those images because they weren't worth posting).  Since we were getting a late start yesterday, and because of my history of being underwhelmed with photographic opportunities in the past, I decided to leave my camera home yesterday.  Naturally, a big mistake.  Because of the wonderful atmosphere created by the fog, I passed up at least four (potentially) great photo ops.  One day I'll learn... (How many times have I said that in this blog?)