It's "that" Season again....

Some people might look at this picture and say, "wow, isn't that fog cool looking?"


Some people don't have to drive in it every.single.day.
I don't like this time of year due to the notorious Sacramento Tule Fog.
We'll have it through January...if we don't have a lot of rain. I pray for rain.
Car pile-ups on I-5 are not uncommon. Ya'd think some genius would invent a fan that could be placed along roadways that are prone to dense fog.


This reminds me of a Thanksgiving story;
We were newlyweds and had gone into town to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. We took one of the younger employees from our restaraunt, and by the time we left, the Tulie fog had set in on the River Road. I was the designated driver, of course.
The closer we got to home, the worse the fog was. At one point, I literally had to open my door to follow the center line of the road.
I kept hearing comments from the peanut gallery like, "you're doing great...I gotta pee hurry up...I have to puke, can ya pull over". Uh, pull over? Pal, I can't even tell where the pull over spot would be and if I could find it, you'd be left there!
I wasn't worried about going in the River because of the guard rails that Grace Scribner had fought so long and hard for with the County of Sacramento. Thank you Grace!

And of course, here's a "Fish Tale";
Haley was little...like 3 or 4. Pop went out in the Bat Boat for some Sturgeon fishing. That's the only thing fog is good for in my opinion. He had a butane heater, insulated overalls, gloves, plenty of bait and whiskey...all important supplies whilst waiting/fishing for Sturgeon.
I had fallen asleep but woke up thirsty, so I headed to the kitchen for a drink of water. As I passed the antique clock, I thought it said 12:30. As I looked out the kitchen window, I saw a wall. Huh...funny, I should be able to see the deck!
I turned on the light and saw it was a wall alright...a wall of fog! When I looked at the illuminated digital clock it said 6:30...that's AM! and he wasn't back yet.
Hmmm...guess the whiskey lasted all night.
About an hour later, I hear the truck pull up, backing the boat into it's parking spot. I made coffee. A lot of coffee.
Haley wandered in and looked out the sliding glass door and saw her Pop unhooking the boat.
She yelled out..."Poppa, whereyabeen?" He said, "fishin...wanna see my really big fish?"
Yea, sure, it's probably barely a keeper I thought. Hope ya enjoyed all that whiskey.

Well, we did as women of hunters do..put on warmer clothes and boots, grabbed the camera and clammered outside to see what all the hoopla was.
No fish in the boat..no fish on the ground. Where's this really big fish?
He pointed to the truck bed. Open.
And there it was.
Can you say, MOBY DICK?!!! Over 70lbs and and 70 inches long!!!

Seems that he had caught the fish early on in the night...but couldn't drag it in the boat. Had to drag it alongside the boat. And as he went to go back to the launch, couldn't find it in the fog.
So he trolled along the side of the banks and every so often would pull up, get out and try to find his bearings. One roadside looks just like another in the fog.
(doesn't this sound like Moby Dick to you?)

And then the ceremony.
(I hate this tradition)
After the tale has been told...the fish gutted and cleaned...the head must be hung from a tree branch to be admired by all the neighbors who have come with coffee mugs in hand.
To hear the tale again...and again...

Have I mentioned how I hate the fog season?

(oh and the picture? as I went to grab a photo of the layout, I am missing and album!
How can that happen?! It's my family album...with heritage photos! ohmygod)