Sunday, September 8, 2013

Fog Bow




One foggy morning, I descended down the big hill toward the pond. The fog was thick enough that I couldn't see the pond. But I did notice a really heavy patch down the path a way. After I passed a big oak to my left, I saw it and a huge smile spread across my face. There was a thick arc of fog from one side of the field to the other, as the sun came up behind me. It cannot be called a rainbow because it had no color but white and light. But it was stunning and unlike anything I'd ever seen. The phenomena is not unique, however, and I easily found an article about "fog bows" online, known by sailors as "sea dogs." Because fog water particles are much smaller than rain, the fog bow lacks the color wavelengths of a rainbow, and is often known as a white rainbow. It was, in all its ephemeral brevity, utterly enchanting and will have me timing my future foggy walks with sunrise.