Visitors 14
Modified 15-Feb-23
Created 14-Oct-20
0 photos
An ocean of fog covers the Peninsula, from the East Bay Hills to Skyline. Seen from high above, it looks smooth and peaceful. Moving closer, one can see meters-high waves and tossed foam. On a water ocean, this would be evidence of a violent storm. But a fog ocean needs much less energy to show this structure; the day is pretty calm, just a light breeze now and then.
Large gentle swells wash back and forth, evidence of slight differences in temperature and humidity, different layers of air not mixing immediately, stirred by the breeze.
As the morning sun warms the air, the ocean of fog begins to dissipate, revealing more of the enclosing hills. Occasionally another hill will peek above the fog, as the currents swirl.
I stand on the crest of Coal Mine Ridge, enveloped in fog, with pure blue sky occasionally visible above. Some times, the fog parts completely, and I am in clear sunlight. Then I am again engulfed in fog.
It is overwhelming, spectacular, and impossible to pin down. I can only look one way at a time; it takes time to focus and capture an image, and by then the everything has changed. So forgive me -- this is the best I can do.
My overloaded attention is drawn again and again to Windy Hill, my back to the sun. The fog dances between me and the summit. Some times I can see a clear fogbow: a semicircle of light, created by the same mechanism as a rainbow. But here the tinier particles of fog don't allow for a clear separation of colors, resulting in a bright white arc instead. From where I stand, this white arc frames Windy Hill.
When I turn around, sometimes I see thick fog, sometimes bright sun above the dissipating fog ocean.
These photos show the open grassland, blooming with fragrant tarweed. The Coyote Brush, colonizing the grassland, providing cover for Poison Oak, oak seedlings, and other woody plants. The birds, enjoying the spreading chaparral. The surrounding forest, ready to take over.
Years ago, the First People enouraged a mix of open grassland, chaparral, and open woodland, by the judicious use of fire among other means. Since the arrival of the Europeans, fires have been suppressed. Cattle, replacing the original elk, served for a while to keep some grasslands open. But now on Coal Mine Ridge, it is up to us to mold the land. We decide if we want to have some open grasslands here, with a view of distant Windy Hill, across the deep valley of Corte Madera Creek.