The weather report, Central Valley version...
Man, I was 'on again; off again' all day yesterday about whether or not the weather would let me blade in the evening. ...and my bellwether was invisible much of the day. All because of the fog...
Here in the great valley, we develop tule fog; that's radiation fog that rises up from the ground (so named by the early adopters as they first saw it rising from the tule marshes). This fog can layer itself from about fifty feet to one-thousand feet and hang around for weeks; it can bank down until one stripe on the roadway is considered the visibility limit; it can form a light haze that just messes with your day; and it can form mist that I can best describe as "a light Seattle rain".
Yesterday, I awoke to a light fog (visibility of about a mile); but, by the time I traveled the thirteen miles to work, things were socked in and the mist was coming down enough to thoroughly wet everything to the point of runoff. Arrggh! I wanted to blade in the evening... No way: there's this coefficient of friction thing with rollerblades that really comes into play when the streets are wet.
Okay, off to Costco/Smart and Final/Office Depot/points north, south, east and west run (I hadn't been on a major outing since before Christmas and the list was rather lengthy). By the time I'd cleared the downtown, the mist was clearing; at the ten mile mark it was gone. ...and later, maybe even a chance of the sun breaking through. Cool...
...until I returned to downtown: fog. Dry streets, but fog. Okay, I can still deal with sweats and a brightly-colored sweatshirt. But an hour later, I noticed it was even darker outside. ...and by the time I left for home, I really could have used an umbrella. ...or perhaps wipers installed on my glasses for the trip across the street to the car. Sheesh. ...cancel those plans to blade.
...until I cleared the downtown core again! This time it took until I was nearly home to leave the mist behind. I had the wipers on normal for the first six miles or so. ...and delay until about a mile from the house. There? Banked fog, but high enough to blade. ...and dry roads. Whoohoo! I was gone as soon as I could change, completely forgetting I'd spent the day on my feet lugging case lots around...
...and today? Sunny skies downtown all day; it's just beautiful.
Go figure...
It's even nicer when they leave...
